Childhood Dayz
by Hisa-Me Kurai
Summary: Shishiwakamaru REALLY did it this time. Touya told him to stop effing around with the Idunn Box, but no! He just HAD to test out the improvements Suzuki made to it. Now Touya's Stranded, and Shishi's left him to fend for himself! Touya's POV
1. Shishiwakamaru Must Die!

(Hey all! This is my second YYH fic, so be nice kay? It's from Touya's POV, if you didn't already catch that from the summary. So without further adieu, READ ON!)

* * *

He was going to kill Shishi. 

Suzuki had told that bird brained idiot not to mess around with Suzuki's new and 'improved' Idunn Box, but **_nooooooooo_**, that narcissistic feather head had just had to push the envelope.

Now he was lost some where in the Ningenkai with no earthly idea where everyone had disappeared to...especially Shishi - that demonic turkey was as good as basted, baked and served on a platter with gravy.

And not only had that pinheaded beak brain reverted him to his fifty-year state, he had purposefully abandoned him on the side of a ningen road when two sumptuous ganguro had crossed his path like a pair of proverbial black cats.

Now he would be glad if he could give a kitten frostbite; he wasn't too sure of his current power situation. All he knew was right now, he was currently toddling along in shinobi garments that were ten sizes too big for him in a sea comprised **totally** of ningens and their pets.

It seemed that ningens led far more taxing lives than Touya originally thought as all of the ones who passed him were so **_completely_** absorbed in their own gormless little lives that they were **far** too preoccupied to even **_see_** him, let **alone** help him.

It was all he could **_do_** to keep from tripping over his oversived clothes and falling, leaving himself open to be trampled by thousands of sweaty, smelly, ningen feet, crammed into faux leather casings that caused them to marinate in their own stench.

Finally the inevitable happened and he stepped on the hem of his robes, sending him toppling to the ground that Yusuke told him once was called concrete.

He felt the evil beast that called itself _'concrete'_ tear the flesh of his young knees apart, letting his blood course freely from the wounds.

Touya's childish, fifty-year instincts kicked in as he began to cry, the tears freezing on his face and shattering as they hit the unyielding ground.

* * *

"Hey, **hey** there! Don't cry. Buck up, lil' dude." 

Trying his hardest to regain control of the disorderly juvenile brain, he looked up tearfully at a teenaged ningen girl about Yusuke's age, looking upon him with black ringed eyes with sympathy.

"C'mon on now." She said, lips curving slightly into an infinitesimal, emotive smile, "Stand up. I know you can do it. Stand up on your own."

Pushing his childish fifty-year old mind back down in favor of his inborn shinobi pride, that refused to be bruised by asking this strange girl to help him to his feet, he wiped his eyes roughly and got to his feet, hiccuping despite himself.

"Good job." The ningen said in approval, taking his miniaturized white hand in her own, flinching only slightly at how cold it was, "Do you know where your parents are? Are you lost?"

He bit his lip. Touya knew **_exactly _**where his parents were – in the Makai, currently six feet under, but the fact remained that he **was** lost so he answered the girl as such; best follow one who could supply him with food, lodgings and dressings for his knees.

"I see." She said calmly, suddenly switching him up and onto her shoulders, "C'mon. I'll take you with me to the police box."

Police? **_Ohhh_**, that could be **bad!** **_Very_** bad. If the ningen authorities got wind that he was here…well, he didn't want to **think **of what kind of trouble he would be in with the Reikai.

Even**_ IF_** he had a week pass to be in the Ningenkai, which he **did**, if humans caught on to what he was, it could mean execution or worse, having his soul banished to **_limbo_** for all eternity!

"Don't worry though. I'll wait with you." He heard through the hailstorm of his thoughts, "If your 'rents don't show after two hours, though, I'll take you home with me. I'll just say you're my cousin and that we can't find them, kay?"

A **lie?** This ningen girl was willing to _**lie**_ for him? It must be that thing...what was it that Genkai called it again? **_Sommmethinnng _**with an 'M'...maternal instinct? Yes, that was it. This must be that maternal instinct she spoke of, the one that makes most human females so protective of the small and weak (there were some exceptions according to what he had been told, but it applied to most)

"Ore wa Yoru. Yaminade Yoru." the ningen said complacently, giving his now tiny hands a squeeze as she was now used to the frigid temperature it seemed, "Whaddabout you? What's your name kid?"

Think, think! Can't give her your real name! **Think!**

"Boku wa...Yusuke. Yukimura Yusuke." he replied, already berating himself inwardly for coming up with such a horrible alias.

"Really? Any relation to Yukimura Keiko?" Yoru asked, surprise making its way into her voice.

Keiko? This 'Yoru' girl knew Yusuke's mate? **_Hope!_** Finally there was hope!

"Yes! I'm her cousin!" he said quickly, already realizing the flaw in this statement.

"Huh...well, Keiko must have some **righteous** relatives." the ningen called Yoru replied, a smirk tingeing her words, "**_Honestly_**, dying the hair of a kid **your** age? That's **_dangerous_** ya know."

"C-can you take me to her? Please?" he begged, giving the ningen's hand a squeeze, psychically willing her to end this conversation.

"Don't see why not." she replied, apparently recieving his telepathic message to stop asking questions, "I'll hail a taxi."

* * *

**Ningenkai** - Human World

**ganguro** - a word that is derogitory and means, in lame man's terms, "Slut(s)"

**ningen** - human

**Makai** - Demon World

**Reikai** - Spirit World

**Ore** **wa** **Yoru**. **Yaminade** **Yoru** - Hey, I'm Yoru. Yaminade Yoru. _Watashi_ is the more polite form, especially where women and girls are concerned, but Yoru's a bit of a tomboy, so she uses the far less decorous _Ore_ when addressing herself

**Boku wa...Yusuke** - I'm...Yusuke; _Boku_ _wa _being the formal male form.

**Yoru** - night

**Yaminade** - hand that strokes the darkness

* * *

(A/N: Touya hooks up with Keiko and Yusuke and relays them the story but Yoru overhears EVERYTHING! Now Keiko, Yusuke and Touya have to convince her she was hearing things as well as find a reversal effect for Suzuki's new and 'improved' Idunn Box! R&R!) 


	2. Revelations

(A/N: Hey all! I hope you're enjoying my fic! Let's get the ball rolling shall we?)

* * *

The 'taxi' as Yoru had called it, was quite an adventure in Touya's personal opinion; adventurous in that he had to keep his fifty-year old brain from surfacing every time he saw something vaguely unfamiliar, colorful, or shiny.

Not to mention being **inside** the 'taxi' was quite like being inside the belly of a medium-sized youkai that moved at a fairly good rate.

And, **_GOD_** the **smells!** It was close to totally sensory **_overload! _**Between the scent of feet, soda, greasy meat, vomit and something unidentifiable that he knew must be some sort of ningen cleaner, he very near lost the battle to his juvenile brain.

He had never been so thankful for a breath of cold air that slapped him across the face and sent his child's mind back to the corner's of his subconscious for the time being as Yoru lifted him back onto her shoulders.

They had walked in silence for a time as they made their way towards the place whereYusuke's mate dwelled, but the silence apparently weighing more heavily on her shoulder's than Touya himself, Your attempted to strike up a conversation with the miniaturized youkai.

* * *

"How ya holding up up there?" Yoru asked, a smirk tingeing her words as she walked along as at a leisurely pace Touya wished would expedite. 

"Okay." He replied quietly, gripping two handfuls of her long hair nervously, unconscious of the color out of nerves as he watched the ningens she passed nervously, wondering with increasing worry if they were staring at her, or at him.

"**My** aren't **_you_** the quiet one." Yoru replied with a snicker, "Most of the kids I work with can't **ever** seem to put a lid on it."

"Eh?" he blinked, leaning forward slightly to peer at her face, "You work with children, Yaminade-san?"

"Yoru please, Yun-kun." She retorted quickly, "I hate formalities. And yes. I work at a daycare center part-time. But it's hush-hush. My school doesn't allow part-time jobs."

"Ohhh." Touya said, his fifty-year old curiosity coming out of hiding from his subconscious mind to partially overwhelm his analytical Shinobi judgment, "Why's that?"

"'m not sure." Yoru replied in a quizzical tone, "It's silly if you ask me. But still, it's our little secret 'kay? No one, not even **_Keiko-chan _**knows about this. It's just between the two of us."

Secrets? **Ooooo**, he liked the sound of that. He was a **_grown up!_** He could keep a **secret!** He was, after all, gonna be a ninja when he-**_AAAAAAAUGH!_** **STOPIT_STOPIT_STOPIT!** You. Are. An. A-**_dult!_** Repeat! **ADULT!** Don't start acting like an undersized Jin! **_Lord!_** What next? Screaming like Rinku for sweet snow?

"Okay." He managed to reply in what he hoped was a mild tone as a dwelling that was redolent of Yusuke's mate loomed into view, bringing on a wave of fresh as three other familiar scents struck his nostrils.

* * *

The ningen girl shifted him off her shoulders, much to his child mind's disappointment, and into her arms where he got a better view of his savior. 

Rather pale complexion, as though she had been ill for some time, amber-brown eyes and a kind face framed by long grey-brown hair. Her entire appearance was rather washed out…like a rather old painting.

"We're here." She smirked, raising a hand to knock only to have the door fly open ad a red-headed blur fly out with a blue haired blur streaking after him.

Yoru clutched the miniaturized Touya tightly to her chest as the figures flew by, the blue haired being shout expletives at the red-head.

"**What the**…I don't wanna know." She mumbled, giving his back a pat as she entered Yukimura's house, "**_OI!_** **Keiko-chaaaaaan?** You here?"

"Eh?" the brown haired, brown-eyed teen appeared around a corner, cheeks flushed from yelling only moments before, "Yoru-kun? What are **_you_** doing here?"

"**Keiko!**" the real Yusuke barked, striding around the corner after her, "You can't just _**walk out**_ in the middle of a…"

He trailed off, his dark brown eyes fixing themselves on Touya with a look of recognition at the familiar youki.

_Touya?_ he mouthed, his eyes wide, _Is that you?_

The youkai in the ningen girl's arms nodded slightly, hoping that Yusuke would urge Keiko into the tale he had managed to spin.

"Hey Keiko." Yoro said offhandedly, shifting him around in her arms, "You're relatives must be pretty out there to let your cuz go off on his own."

"My cous-**_YEEOWUCH! _Yusuke!**" Keiko shrieked as her boyfriend pinched her arm, "Knock it **_off!_**"

"Hey thanks for bringing the lil' guy back!" the mazoku said quickly, reaching to take the Toddler Touya from the washed out teen, who was now staring at Yusuke curiously.

"You **have** the **_same_** **name?**" she asked sardonically, raising an eyebrow as Yusuke snatch the chilly tot from her, "That's a rather odd co-winky-dink…doncha think?"

"Yeah, well, Yusuke's a popular name nowadays." The hanyou replied cheerfully, shooting a poisonous look at Jin and Chuu over his girlfriend's shoulder.

"Uh-huh...so explain to me why half the boys I baby-sit are named Shinji?" Yoru snorted, rolling her eyes as she headed for the door, "I'll stop by later Keiko-chan. We can play then, okay, Yun-kun?"

Yun-ku…? **_Ohhhh_**, she was referring to **him!**

"Okay." He replied in an almost timid voice as she ruffled his hair a little before walking out the door, leaving him to talk seriously with the real Yusuke.

* * *

"Touya, what the _**hell**_ happened to **you?**" Yusuke cried, causing Keiko's eyes to widen in surprise at the familiar name. 

"Touy-wait a minute…" she murmured, squatting down to the little so she was at the miniaturized youkai's eye level, "…it _**IS**_ you!"

"That pinheaded, feather-brain, Shishiwakamaru was meddling where he didn't belong." Touya growled bitterly.

"Ah, the Idunn Box stroikes again it does." Jin chuckled merrily, his blue eyes glittering merrily at his friend's current predicament.

"It's **not**. **_Funny_**. Jin." Touya spat, pronouncing each syllable, "Suzuki had just finished 'making improvements to it', so I've no idea how long it will take to change back."

"Well aintchoo a **cute** lil' bugga." Chuu snickered, cuffing the poor juhyou tsukai around the neck to give him a very rough noogie, "Ne'er told us whadda cute lil' runtcha were, Toy."

"Knock it **_OFF_**, Chuu." Keiko snapped reproachfully, snatching Touya away from him with a withering look, "Honestly, this is **not** the time for games!"

"Hey Keiko-chan, I forgot my…huh?" Yoru murmured, quieting herself as the sound of unpleasant conversation reached her ears, "What's going on?"

"Well, where the **_hell_** is that **idiot** anyway?" Yusuke (senior's) sharp strident voice snapped angrily, making Yoru cringe at its force.

"Chasing ningen skirt, what do you **_think_**?" Yun-kun (at least from Yoru's perspective) retorted, in his sweet, yet icy tone.

"_Was that really Yun-kun?"_ she wondered, _"And what did he mean when he said 'ningen' anyway? He's ningen too! And what's a kid his age doing using such a colorful vocabulary?"_

"At any rate, we better find Suzuki." Keiko's voice came, serious and grave, "He's the only one who would know for certain how to change you back."

"_What does she mean by that?"_ Yoru practically screamed in her mind, _"Yun-kun's a little boy! There's nothing for him to change back into except an embryo!"_

"Detective." Another voice, a darker voice sliced through the air, "You've become careless."

Pain. Splintering pain exploded through the back of her neck, sending stars cascading past her eyes as she felt her knees give out.

Tears watering in her eyes, she vaguely saw Yun-kun's shape before her vision clouded over and she blacked out.

* * *

"Oh no." Touya moaned as Hiei sheathed his katana and began working at the knot of his bandana, "How much did she hear?" 

Knot undone and jagan uncovered and open, Hiei quickly scanned the newer memories in her mind and let loose a heavy sigh.

"Everything." Hiei muttered irritably, moving a palm over her forehead, "I'm going to have to wipe her mind."

"_It's our little secret okay?"_ Touya unwillingly heard her voice echo in his head, _"It's just between the two of us."_

"Stop." He mumbled, grabbing a hold of Hiei's wrist with all ten of his tiny fingers, "Don't. It's not necessary."

"What are y' on man" Jin asked, scratching his wild mane, "A course i' is!"

"I know one of her secrets and she now knows one of mine. An even trade, no?" Touya asked, "If she threatens to tell what she knows, I'll threaten to tell what I know."

"Eh?" Chuu blinked, peering at the diminutive juhyou tsukai, "Whatchoo know 'bout this Sheila, eh?"

"Sore wa himitsu desu." Touya said cryptically, indulging his fifty-year old instincts this time around and sticking out his tongue.

"No need to be **rude**, Touya." Keiko said chidingly, as she rose to her feet, "I'm going to get some smelling salts to wake her."

"Thanks for the warning." Yusuke cringed, making a face at her back, "That stuff reeks worse than Kuwabara's sweat socks after gym!"

From his apartment, Kuwabara sneezed.

"Hopefully, we can explain this to her." Shishiwakamaru said coolly, "And you wont have to play your trump card."

"Yeah…hey, **wait a minute!**" Touya yelped, whipping around as Shishi sauntered up the stairs, letting his childish personality take partial control as he screamed, "**_YOU TURKEY-BRAINED BUFFOON! I'M GOING TO MURDER YOU!_**"

* * *

"So…" Yoru said in what she hoped was a calm voice as she addressed the child in her lap, "You're a youkai?" 

"Hai." Touya nodded, patting her hand awkwardly in an attempt to relieve whatever fear she might be experiencing.

"And this isn't the way you usually look?" she asked in an discomfited tone, peering into his face as he stared up at her through big, round, ice blue eyes that lacked the innocence of a the age he appeared to be.

"**Tha's** fer durn sure." Jin snickered, feeling comfortable enough now to float Indian style in mid air with his arms folded behind his head.

"And I don't think you need me to tell you that these guys are demons." Keiko said in a soothing tone, jerking her thumb in the direction of Chuu, Jin, Shishiwakamaru and…

"Yusuke-chan too?" Yoru asked, cocking her eyebrow, "No **wonder** no one could ever beat you in a kenka!"

"Yusuke-**_chan_**?" Chuu snorted, trying to suppress the laugh building up in his chest, shaking under the effort.

"How many times have I told ya it's just plain ole Yusuke?" the mazoku barked, reddening slightly as Chuu lost it and a long loud booming laugh escaped.

"So…how'd you get like this?" Yoru asked, subconsciously wrapping an arm around Touya's front and petting his hair.

Touya's body temperature dropped instantaneously as did the room temperature, making Jin, who was in his normal garb, yelp.

"Ask. **Him**." Touya spat, voice dripping with venom as he jabbed a finger in Shishiwakamaru's direction.

"It's not my fault you're like this Touya." Shishiwakamaru remarked snidely, running a hand through his hair, "It's Suzuki's."

"_So…his name is Touya, huh?"_ Yoru thought to herself as a familiar dark voice expressed it's opinion.

"Actually, it is **_your_** fault, narcissist." Hiei growled softly, emerging from the shadows with Kurama in tow, "You should have known better than to touch Pandora's box."

"In this case, it's effects are **quite** the opposite." Kurama mused, stepping forward to inspect Touya closely, "Why haven't you transformed back yet I wonder."

* * *

"**Ah!**" Shishiwakamaru cried, palming his fist, "I almost **_forgot_**! How foolish of me!" 

In the blink of an eye, he was clasping Yoru's hand, his eyes glowing with the seductiveness intrinsic only to youkai.

"I am Shishiwakamaru, at your service." He smiled, exposing his perfect white teeth, "An honor to meet you my dear."

"I suppose introductions are in order." Kurama sighed, giving the ningen girl a small smile, "I am known in ningen circles as Minamino Shuichi, but in the Makai, I am known as Kurama. Good to meet you."

Jin flew forward and grabbed Yoru's free hand and shook it heartily.

"Oim Jin!" He said, grinning cheekily all the while, "Good t' meetcha!"

"Th' name Chuu!" the drunken master smirked, cuffing the ningen on the back, "Good t' meetcha Sheila!"

"Hiei." The koorime muttered, eyeing the ningen girl with suspicion.

All present expected a reaction similar to Keiko's - a warm smile and a happily introduction. What they got was quite the opposite.

"**Keep**. **Your**. **_Distance_**." Yoru snapped venomously, smacking Jin and Shishi's hands away and shooting Kurama and Chuu a poisonous glare before removing Touya from her lap and placing him carefully on the floor, rising to her feet.

"You don't need to worry about me keeping your secret." She said coolly, "I won't breathe a word. You'll have to excuse me now, I have to start dinner."

She gave a short, deep bow and turned on her heel, stalking towards the door and closing it with a snap.

"What was _**that**_ all about?" Shishiwakamaru asked, rubbing his hand as he eyed the door.

"Huhhhhhh…sit down everyone." Yusuke sighed, sitting back on his heels, "I'll tell ya."

* * *

Sore wa himitsu desu - It's a secret!

Kenka- Street fight.

* * *

(A/N: Yusuke tells why Yoru hates men. Touya changes back, but with an unexpected twist. R&R!)


	3. A Tale About :Night:

(A/N: Woot! I'm doing good! Nothing but positve revviews so far! And now, ON WITH THE FIC!)

* * *

"Now I'm just going off what Keiko told me." Yusuke said with a sigh, "So feel free to stop me if I go too far off track." 

"Gotcha." Keiko nodded, taking a seat beside him and pulling Touya up onto the couch, even though he was perfectly capable of doing so himself despite the decrease in height.

"Yoru hasn't had the best experiences with men." Keiko said with a sigh, shifting her fingers back through her hair so it was in a makeshift ponytail.

"Point in fact, they sucked." Yusuke said bluntly, "From what Keiko told me, her old man not only walked out on them while her mom was pregnant, but Yoru was the one to catch him cheating."

"Tha's roit out, i' is." Jin mumbled, bringing a hand to his face, "How ol' was sh' at th' toime?"

"About nine or ten." Keiko said ruefully, "Old enough to be slightly naïve, but still have a pretty good clue as to what was going on."

"Her dad got her mom sick." Yusuke muttered, now Kurama was really paying attention, "And we're talking **_REEEEEEEALLY _**sick. And she isn't going to get better."

"He passed HIV from the woman he was cheating with to Yoru's mom, Miyasu." Keiko said sadly, "And Miyasu passed the disease to her little brother, Yuhi."

"HIV? Wha's all that then?" Chuu asked, looking confused as to why Kurama, Keiko and Yusuke looked so grim.

"HIV, and it's sister disease AIDS, are auto-immune diseases in ningens." Kurama said quietly, "Silent killers that attack the immune system and make it impossible to fight the common cold or even allow the body to clot blood properly."

"No wonder she gave us all such poisonous looks." Touya said, his icy eyes wide, "Yoru's father made her mother and brother sick. She must think all men are trash."

"Then why was she so nice to **you**, Yusuke?" Shishi demanded to know, arms folded across his chest.

"Because we grew up together, obviously." Yusuke said listlessly, "But she wasn't exactly what you would call friendly with me, wouldn'tcha say?"

"She was rather mordant, mazoku." Hiei said drably, "But then again, who isn't with you? Even your mate doesn't treat you with respect."

"Who's your mate?" Keiko asked politely, a deadly gleam in her eyes, "Why had no one told **_me_** about her? It's too bad you'll never get to introduce us…**BEFORE I _KILL _YOU!**"

"Sheila, we we're talkin' bout **_choo_**, love!" Chuu cried, quickly taking hold of the back of Keiko's shirt.

"Y' mean sh's **nah** 'is mate?" Jin asked, cocking his head to the side like a puppy, "Buh 'er scent's all **_o'er_** **ya** laddie!"

"She's not my **_mate_**! She's my **girlfriend**!" Yusuke shouted, now very red from his hiding spot behind an easy chair.

"Yes, gentlemen." Kurama said easily, going to Keiko with a vial of Calming Breath (which does exactly what its name implies) in hand, "They call it something different here."

"_**OOOOOOHHHH!**_" all other youkai present (minus the obvious exception of Hiei) cried, palming their fists.

* * *

_bzzzzzzzzz...bzzzzzzzzzzz_

"**Heep!**" Yoru squawked, sending a full glass of iced tea flying into her lap, narrowly avoiding the sea of homework spread about the table.

A stream of expletive erupting from her mouth, Yoru dug the cell (set on vibrate) out of her front pocket, wanting to know who was going to die.

Only seconds later though, she let loose a half-hearted groan of disappointment upon seeing the familiar number of her mother's cell, and mumbling to herself how it wasn't nice to off family members before answering.

"Hey Mama! It's that beat that make ya groove, Mama." Yoru sang, quoting the censored, American song with a smirk.

"_Nice greeting._" Miyasu snickered on the other end of the line, "_How ya holding up?_"

"I'm okay." Yoru forced her self to replied, trying her best to ignore the Nestea soup she was currently swimming in, "How's Yuhi doing? That relapse happened **_completely_** out of the blue."

"_He's doing as well as to be expected._" Miyasu replied in a strained voice, "_They're still getting him stabilized._"

"Knock it off. If you get overly stressed, your body will give out and **both** of you will be in the hospital." Yoru replied firmly, "By the way, I _**knew**_ you'd forget, so I slipped your meds and Yuhi's into your purse."

"_I knew I forgotten to do SOMETHING!_" Miyasu cried on the other end of the line, "_I better go take care that right now._"

"Yeah, ya **think**?" Yoru in a smiling tone, "I'm gonna let you go now. Remember, Mama - Stress? **_Baaaaaad_**. Vegatating? _**Gooooood**_."

"_Nahnahnah-nah. Nahnahnah-nah. Hey, hey, hey – goo-ood bye!_" Miyasu sang before hanging up the phone.

Hanging up quickly, Yoru let loose an disgusted _"Eeeeeww!"_ at the sticky tea mess she was drenched in.

"I guess I should be thankful I don't have to do all **this** over again." She said peeling off her soaked T-shirt (homework – "all this").

"Better clean this craptastic mess up." she sighed ruefully, "Damnit this sucks."

* * *

"_Hey there, Yusuke!_" Botan chirruped over the Communication Mirror, "_Word through the grape vine is you're looking for Suzuki._" 

"**_Sheesh_**. No privacy, I tell ya." Yusuke snorted at the bubbly hisa-me, "Tell that thumbsucker he needs to get a life outside of annoying me."

"Why **Yusuke**, and here I went to **_all_** the trouble of rounding up **Suzuki** for you." an all too familiar voice said snidely from directly behind the mazoku, "If my assistance is so _**unnecessary**_, I'll just be taking him back with-"

"**Ko_en_ma**!" Keiko said, wrapping her arms around the Reikai ruler's arm (currently in teen form), "So good of you to **_come_**! Would you like some tea?"

"Nice save, Yukimura-san." Touya breathed as the ningen girl dragged Koenma into the kitchen, leaving an insensible Suzuki to his disposal.

"Alroight, Suzi - wakey-wakey." Jin grinned, grabbing a nearby vase and dumping the contents (complete with flowers) over the unconscious youkai's head causing him to sputter instantly awake.

"**HWUH**?" He choked out, sending a piercing glare at closest living object – the chibified Touya – which was an obvious lapse in judgment on his part as cold-as-ice one-thousand-nine-hundred year old, Shinobi warrior Touya was currently in a struggle for dominance with Ooo-what's-that-let's-play, fifty-year old Touya.

"Why're ya scowlin' at _**him**_ fer, Suzi?" Chuu asked, cocking an eyebrow at the blonde youkai who came very close to having his balls frozen off if not for some quick interference from Kurama.

"Yes. The Juhyo Tsukai hasn't done anything to warrant your ire." Hiei said coolly from his seat on the windowsill.

"Suzuki-" Kurama began, only to be instantly corrected by the narcissistic youkai, "Very well…**Beautiful** Suzuki…as you can plainly see, Shishiwakamaru's meddling with the Idunn Box has caused Touya to revert to a child's state."

"Suzu…_**Beautiful**_ Suzuki…" Yusuke forced himself to grind out on the behalf of his miniaturized friend, "You **made** the damn thing – why hasn't he changed **_back_** yet?"

"Perhaps because of the modifications he made." Shishi said in an I-So-Don't-Care tone of voice.

"Precisely." Suzuki said, taking Touya's tiny chin in his hand, "I've been tinkering around with the Idunn Box quite a bit to see if I could delay the effects of the Fruit of the Past Life."

"Well you **succeeded**…obviously." Touya growled bitterly from his current position (completely restrained in Kurama's lap), "But on to the crucial question…crucial as your fate rests upon it - do you know how to change me back or not."

"Wait it out." Suzuki said simply, making Touya's mouth form an 'o' of shock, "That's the one element of the Idunn Box I haven't been able to change. While the effects are prolonged, you should only remain as you are for a week? Two weeks tops?"

"Yer jus' guessin' aintcha?" Jin snickered, floating by with a grin on his face.

"**_No_**!" Suzuki retorted indignantly, "…I'm…I'm over seventy-three percent sure."

"…you'll die now." Touya said softly, springing free from Kurama's arms with an unexpected burst of energy from his anger-charged, childish mind (thank you, karma)

* * *

"Touya, be **reasonable**!" Kurama cried desperately, wanting to keep the peace, "Yusuke, don't just **_stand_** there! **Help me!**" 

"Eh, let him get it out of his system." Yusuke drawled, "It's **_good_** for a growing boy his age."

"Y'know whuh **won't** beh good fer **_yer_** system, Urameshi? "Chuu asked with a sly smile, "When that' lil' Sheila in there sees whuh Toy done did t'her livin' room."

Yusuke appeared to consider this a moment, then darted forward and snatched Touya up by the back of the collar.

"Alright runt, knock it off." he growled, only to have Touya, currently losing the war against his juvenile instincts, turn around and bite his wrist.

"**OW!** _**SUNNAVABITCH!**_" Yusuke hissed, promptly dropping the Juhyou Tsukai hard on his butt.

"**Urameshi!**" Touya squawked, the pain snapping him back to his senses, "That **_HURT!_**"

"Well god**damnit**, ya hurt **_ME_** **FIRST!**" Yusuke yelled back, drawing Keiko and Koenma from the kitchen.

"Um, Hiei-san?" Keiko asked tentatively, "Do we wanna know?"

"No." Hiei said nonchalantly, "You're better off not knowing. It's far too moronic."

"Gotcha." Koenma nodded as both he and Keiko turned on their heels and returned to the kitchen.

"Hey…I feel kinda funny." Touya mumbled, eyes sliding to half-mast, "All warm and…kinda…"

The other youkai present watched half-expectantly and half in fascination as Touya's body took on a faint light and began distending, but as soon as it appeared, the light faded and.

"Huh?" Touya blinked, lifting his still diminutive hands in front of his eyes." Wha-what **_is_** this?"

He looked into the glass of a china cabinet not twenty feet away from him in horror - a child of about seven ningen years stared back at him with round chips of ice for eyes, sage green bangs and ice blue hair.

"I'm only four-hundred years old." He mumbled, staring at his reflection with growing rage, "Suzuki, when I'm back to normal, I promise to be a good friend…**AND ENSURE YOUR _FANGIRLS_ ATTEND YOUR _FUNERAL SERVICE!_**"

* * *

Yuhi - sunset

Miyasu - beautifully calm

hisa-me - female death god

* * *

(A/N: A run in at the supermarket, an unexpected babysitting request of the youkai kind, and a burglary? R&R!) 


	4. Murphy's Law

(A/N: Hey all! Sorry this took so long! My work schedule is such a bitch! At anyrate, enjoy!)

* * *

"**_Aaaaaaaaawnn_**-**nah**…" Yoru yawned loudly as she stumbled sleepily down the stairs, "…need caffeine…chocolaty-chippy waffley goodness."

She lurched into the kitchen and open the pantry, only to find to her horror –

"**No**…iced **_tea_** mix?" Yoru whimpered, on the verge of crying, "And we're **out** of chocolate **chips**? **_NOOOOOOO_**!"

To show her annoyance of being denied her sweet, chocolaty goodness and energy-instilling caffeine, she kicked the corner of the pantry a wee bit harder than necessary and, as a result, wound up on the floor, hissing and spitting like a territorial tom cat.

"**ShitshitSHIT** that was stupid." Yoru moaned tearfully, holding her injured foot in her hands and rocking back and forth on the cold, hard tile floor, "**_Gawd_**, why am I always such a '**tard** first thing?"

Forcing herself to look at the injury, Yoru was very relieved to see that there was no blood (still hurt like hell tho')

"Can't **_believe_** I have to go to the store this early." She grumbled, clamoring to her feet, wincing a little as she applied a bit of weight to her wounded foot, "Just to the convenience store. No way I'm doing the big trip at six in the morning on a Sunday."

Yoru tugged a coat on over her PJ's, slipped on a pair of Keds and trudged out the door and into the crisp morning air, breath catching in her throat at the sudden blast of cold.

"Nestea, chocolate chips, Nestea, chocolate chips." She chanted aloud, making an early morning jogger shoot a weirded-out look her way, the kind that says, _'Is she high or something?'_

Ignoring the look, Yoru continued on her set path to the convenience store, driven by her caffeine addiction, reached the two block marker in record time, relishing the sound of the automatic doors opening as a small victory.

"I'm lucky that baking goods and drink mixes are only an aisle apart." She grinned, reaching for a basket.

Yoru lifted the basket upwards and went to walk towards the two aisles of 'Joy and Happiness', but found she wasn't moving forwards though her feet were and found reason why relatively quickly.

She was being anchored firmly in place by another hand that had reached for the same basket. And that hand belonged to someone she knew and loathed.

"As if this day wasn't **already** going to hell in a hand basket." She snarled, releasing her grip on the grocery basket.

Yaminade Aoshi, Yoru's estranged father, blinked at the seventeen year old without any sense of recognition as she stomped off to collect her two items.

* * *

"You're going to do **_what_**?" Touya murmured icily, tapering his already narrow eyes into slits, "Do you mind repeating that, Suzuki?" 

"I **said**, were going to have the ningen girl baby-sit you." Suzuki said with a knowing smile, "While she's watching you, we want to see if now that she knows you aren't all you appear to be if she treats you like she does all other males, or as she did before – like a child."

"So I am just supposed to play the part of a agreeable participant in this experiment of yours?" Touya asked blandly, arms folded across his chest, "I fail to see how this would benefit me in any way. I do believe I will abstain from this daft idea of yours."

"Aw, c'mon Icy." Jin said cheerfully, cuffing Touya around the neck and giving him an overly aggressive noogie, "Whuh cood it hur'?"

"Just indulge our curiosity Touya." Shishiwakamaru said absently, checking his appearance in a spoon as the miniaturized Juhyou Tsukai shot a frigid glance his way, "I'm sure I'm not the only one who wonders if this is a deep seated grudge or pedophilia."

"Did you just call th' lil Sheila a child-lover boya?" Chuu asked dangerously, sending a threatening smile Shishi's way, "All ah can say is, you're already on thin ice, nu oun intended, there Toy…s' don't push it, Featha Head."

"Just think of it this way Touya – it's the fastest way to shut us up." Yusuke said sheepishly, "And do you really wanna hafta suffer anymore than ya already have?"

The answer to that one was obvious in Touya's mind: No.

"…I suppose there is no way out of this short of my shortly impending suicide?" Touya asked, annoyance seeping into his voice.

"It's looking that way." Keiko sighed tiredly, giving his shoulder a sympathetic pat.

* * *

"**O**-**_kaaaaaayee_**." Yoru sighed, pushing her syrup soaked plate away from herself, "**Much** happier now. It's **_amazing_** what a few pounds of sugar will do." 

She rose to her feet, clearing her dishes as she did so, contented smile on her face.

"It can quiet screaming children." Yoru ticked off as she crossed the kitchen, "It can end domestic disputes, it can-"

_**-SWEET LITTLE BUMBLEBEE-  
-I KNOW WHAT YOU WANT FROM ME-  
-DOODOODOODOODOODADA-  
-DOODOODOODOODOODADA-**_

Yoru hurled the syrup covered plated she held into the air at the sheer volume of her cell (she had used it as an alarm that morning; forgot to lower the volume), scrambling to both answer it and stop the dish from obeying Murphy's law which it did, landing syrup side down on her lap.

"…send you spiraling into blinding rage." She quivered in just barely contained frustration at her own spazmodium as she answered the polyphonic ringtone she had set for Yukimura Keiko's home phone.

"Hey. Is this a bad time?" a very perceptive Keiko asked carefully, practically feeling Yoru's white-hot rage seep through the receiver to singe her earlobe

"_Oh…no…what is it Keiko-chan?_" came the reply through obviously gritted teeth, making Keiko inhale sharply to restrain the peal laughter that wanted to break free.

"Um, I just wanted to know if you were free to baby-sit, that's all." She said calmly, twisting a strand of dark brown hair around her fingertip.

"_Eh? Who do you want me to watch?_" came Yoru's confused reply, "_You don't have any siblings, and that youkai child has the mentality of an old man. He can handle himself._"

"Actually, I do want you to watch Touya-san." Keiko said tentatively, "You see, we're trying to see if we can find some way to return him to normal."

"_Yeeeeeahh…and?_" Yoru pressed, sounding slightly annoyed. Keiko knew why; Keiko knew the teen was probably thinking, _'why don't you let him alone? He's fine as he is! Don't ruin him by turning him into a…a MAN!'_

"You see, Yoru-kun, this is Touya-san's first time in the Ningenkai." Keiko pressed, deciding to prod at the teen's sense of responsibility, "And, at the moment, he is locked in battle with his child persona. He's mentally unstable so-"

"_I getcha, I getcha._" Yoru sighed over the phone, sounding defeated, "_You want to make sure he doesn't get, oh say, kidnapped by some little boy lovin' pervert or hit by a car whilst your doing your research…is that it?_"

"Exactly." Keiko replied, knowing she was victorious, "So will you so it Yoru-kun?"

"_Just bring him over whenever you're gonna go do whatever it is you're gonna do._" The teen replied irritably, hanging up quickly as Keiko pumped her fist in triumph.

* * *

"This…is **beyond** gross…**_YEEWW_**!" Yoru groaned as she peeled the syrupy plate off her thighs, "**Gero-gero!** **_Too_** disgusting!" 

She tossed the sticky thing into the sink like a frisbee and stormed towards the stairs, muttering to herself.

**_-MAJIKARU MAJIKARU NAASU-  
-kodou wa DOKIDOKI-  
-choushinki ga nakute mo kikoeru deshou?-  
-MAJIKARU MAJIKARU NAASU-_**

"Oh **no**, **_not_** today!" Yoru cried, recognizing the ringtone she had designated for Sakuranbo Daycare Center, "They **can't** call me in to_**DAY**_!"

But a short conversation with her supervisor proved her wrong and hanging up, she knew she would be dragging the youkai child with her to work with her.

"This just **isn't** my day…week…whatever." She mumbled, returning the cell to it's vibrate setting as she stalked into the bathroom and stripped out of her ruined skirt and top to shower off the gluey mess.

"Is there no where it didn't get into?" she asked herself disgustedly, scrubbing down her legs and stomach irritably with a loofa and soap, doing her best to avoid her boy-short underwear.

Of course, her current run of luck holding steady, Yoru leaned too far forward and, overcompensating by leaning too far back, she slipped off the edge of the tub, cracking her tailbone on the floor.

"Ah, god-**_DAMMIT!_**" she cried, hand her lower back as she collapsed in dry sobs, "What else? What** ELSE** are you gonna hurl my way, Kami-sama?"

Hissing as she pushed herself to her feet, slightly thankful that she had at least had the foresight to drape her clothes on the toilet, Yoru left the bathroom and went to her bedroom to change.

* * *

She had just tugged a t-shirt over her head when the door bell rang. 

"**Crap!**" Yoru yelped, snatching up a clean skirt and knee-socks, hopping into the former as she dashed down the stairs two at a time, "Keiko, learn to not be so **_damn_** efficient, wouldya? You're making me **look** bad!"

She reached the bottom of the stairway and hit the wall roughly as she began doing the _'Putting-On-My-Socks-Dance'_ before answering the door, very red in the face and sweaty.

"…are you okay?" Yusuke (yes, it's NOT Keiko) asked, raising an eyebrow at his childhood friend who currently stood gasping for air in doorway, clutching the frame for support.

"Don't **_patronize_** me, Yusuke-chan." Yoru wheezed, mustering up her strength to raise her head to glare at him.

"…I apologize…for the inconvenience." Touya said tentatively, watching as she turned to look at him, eyes softening slightly.

"Ah, don't worry about it, Touya-kun." She replied, ruffling his hair slightly, "Let me grab my shoes and we'll go out for awhile, kay?"

Touya nodded, watching as she grabbed a pair of slip-ons from a nearby shoe basket and tug them on her feet as Yusuke waved good bye over his shoulder although Touya knew better.

The mazoku had already informed him that he and the other youkai would be keeping watch close by in case anything went wrong.

"Alright lil' dude, let's boogey." Yoru said cheerfully, taking him by the hand and hurrying down the sidewalk.

Touya didn't expect such difficulty keeping up with her, but then, his legs were so much shorter than hers now; an added boost of youki quickly remedied the problem though and he had no trouble keeping up with her long hurried strides.

"Yamina…Yoru-san? Where are we going?" he asked, causing her to slow a bit and look back at him apologetically.

"Remember my secret?" she asked, "Well, we're going to where I work. One of the ladies who works there got sick so they called me in."

"Oh." Touya said with a nod as a thought occurred to him,_ "Yaminade-san said she worked at a daycare…that means…ningen children…"_

Now he was worried. How would his brain handle being submersed in so many bodies, that wanted to do as his did, and play?

* * *

He didn't have long to dwell on it as Yoru's cry of alarm broke his thoughts. 

"Oh my **lord!** **_Daidoji-kun!_** What happened?" she cried worriedly, Touya's childish brain noticing with avid curiosity bright red and blue flashing lights coming from atop more strange forms of ningen transport.

"Yoru-kun! Our house was burglarized while we we're asleep!" a middle-aged ningen woman said shakily as Touya began quashing down the juvenile thoughts of _'Ooo…it's so shiny and I want to play with it'_, "We slept right through it!"

"We locked all the doors and windows! How could they have possibly gotten in?" a middle-aged man asked, looking a mixture of anxious and incensed.

"Ohhhhhh **no**! The **_WINDOW_**!" Yoru cried, palming her forehead as Touya, and the ningen couple looked at her quizzically, "Remember? When I watched Chihiro last month and she got herself locked in the bathroom?"

"That's **right**…you **_told_** us you had to jimmy the lock to get her out." the ningen man moaned, allowing his head to fall in his hands.

"We've been **meaning** to replace the damn thing but something always kept coming up." the woman said dejectedly, "We better inform the police of this,"

"I hope you recover what you lost." Yoru said unsurely, giving Touya's hand a tug to lead him off, "I really am sorry about all this."

_"The Ningenkai is more perilous than I'd first thought."_ Touya mused, _"And I'm sure whatever was stolen has been pawned off already. It's a sad fact they must face I'm afraid, so I hope they stole nothing of sentimental value."_

* * *

(1) the first ringtone is "Bumblebee' by Smile.dk

(2) Gero-gero - and Osakan term, totally adorable in my opinion that means, "SICK!" or "Gross!"

(3) the second ringtone is "Ai no Medicine" by Momoi Haruko

(4) Sakuranbo - cherry

(5) the burglary is based on personal experience; they got in through a window with a broken lock in the bathroom I had broken to reach my little cousin who had locked himself in; my parents failed to replace it and it resulted in us being robbed while I was at school and they at work.

* * *

(A/N: Touya takes a trip to daycare, and much, much more! R&R!)


	5. Daycare, Play Fair

(A/N: Where did you all go reviewers? You all disappeared last chappie! I can't make things better without constructive criticisms! I NEED YOU GUYS, MAAANNNN! I need you more than a HEROINE ADDICT needs an INTERVENTION! ...okay, bad analogy, but still, the LOVE IS THERE! So read on if you're there peeps!)

* * *

"Oh thank **_goodness_** you're…well hello there." A twenty-something ningen girl said in surprise, squatting down to get to Touya's eye level, "What's your name, hun?" 

Touya wasn't quite sure why, perhaps because he didn't know this onna and he wasn't particularly fond of strangers, or because that currently she towered over him, but a feeling of unease filled him and he shrank behind Yoru's legs.

"Touya." He mumbled, looking up at her, willing his childish nervousness away to glower slightly at this new face.

"Nice to meetcha, sweetie." She replied, not the least bit deterred by his anxious glare, "I'm Usami Nakane. Just call me Nakane-chan, kay?"

He gave no reply, as his childish brain grew increasingly more apprehensive, causing him to temporarily lose control and shrink further behind Yoru's legs.

"Touya-kun's a bit on the quiet side." Yoru told the onna called Nakane, "He's going through a hard time right now so be extra nice to him, alright?"

"Not a prob." Nakane replied with a smile, reaching around Yoru to take Touya's hand and tug him forward, "You go get changed, girl. I show Toy-chan around."

"Kay." Yoru nodded, moving to leave, "I'll be right back Touya-kun! And don't worry! I'm sure you'll have fun!"

"**Ah**!" the cry had escaped before he quite realized it as his child's brain began to panic.

His juvenile brain was boiling over with thoughts of one of the few ningens he was even vaguely familiar with abandoning him with a stranger; Touya's adult mind was being drowned in a sea of panic and his childish self was very near tears again.

"…on't worry…be…ack…" Nakane's voice cut through the chaos in his brain as she attempted to calm him, "She's just going to change. So in the meantime, why don't we go find something **_fun_** to do, okay?"

Touya faintly felt himself nodding and knew he had to regain control and began to once again forced the juvenile persona down to the bottom of his psyche.

* * *

Back in control of himself again, he found himself in a very colorful room…which currently was a very dangerous gambit for the knife-edge his mind was balancing on, that was filled with laughing, playing, shouting children. 

It was loaded from corner to corner with toys, things to finger-paint, sculpt and color with, as well as a place to read or be read to.

A bright red door led outside where several dozen more children were playing on an extraordinary thing that seated many and swung them back in forth in no particular rhythm.

More were lined up in front of another piece of equipment that slid them around on their rears to a cushion mat at the bottom.

Another colorful piece of equipment spun round, and **round**, and **_ROUND_** as fast as one or more of the children pushed it, with many bars to hold onto to ensure they didn't go flying off.

And there was **lots** of equipment for climbing on in all different colors, as well as a sandpit which the young ningens molded with buckets into all kinds of things.

"Well Toy-chan?" Nakane asked, noting the fascination in Touya's ice-blue eyes, "What looks fun?"

Touya's inborn **_youkai_** instincts were drawing him outside, but his **CHILD** instincts…were pulling him towards the swings.

Not knowing the name of the thing though, he merely pointed at the thing and voiced:

"That."

"Ah, the swing set. Excellent choice." Nakane grinned, allowing Touya to lead her outside, "Do ya think you'll need a push? Or will ya be alright on your own?"

Touya was silent a moment as he observed how the children on the swing set pumped their legs to go higher and higher.

"I think I can manage." He replied, approaching an empty swing, taking a seat and, mimicking the children around him, pumped his legs, his juvenile brain delighting when he started swaying back and forth.

_"This must be how Jin feels all the time." _He thought wildly as he felt his stomach rise and fall as he went higher and higher.

"Hey Touya-kun, havin' fun?"

Startled, he dug his heels into the woodchips to bring himself to a screeching halt, looking up wildly at the owner of the voice.

"Hey, don't stop on my account." Yoru smiled, now re-dressed in a long-legged jean jumper with the Sakuranbo logo on the front pocket and a long-sleeved striped t-shirt.

"…I was finished anyway Yamin…Yoru-san." Touya replied, feeling an unfamiliar heat well up in his cheeks and embarrassment lump in his throat at letting his childish brain take control of him for more than an instant.

"Alright then, do you wanna go inside? Or play outside a bit more?" Yoru asked, getting down to his level while speaking, something Touya found strangely comforting.

"Outside, onegai." He responded, already eyeing the bright green climbing apparatus where several children were hanging from their knees.

"You got it, lil' dude." She winked, spotting one of her charges eating paste from the corner of her eye as she spoke, "I have to run inside **_reeeeal_** quick, but I'll be **right** back, kay?"

"Alright." Touya replied lazily, his body already moving towards the play gym as Yoru dashed into the daycare crying out, "**_Hisae_-_kun!_** **Don't** eat the **_paste!_**"

* * *

Upon reaching the destination his childish mind was screaming for, he was immediately brought nose to nose with a boy who in all appearances looked the same age as him (but we all knew he was far from it) 

"You new around here?" the child asked haughtily, arms folded over his chest as he hung upside down in front of Touya.

"Maybe." The youkai replied coolly, his juvenile brain whining desperately that it wanted on the climbing gym N-O-W.

"Newbies aren't allowed on the jungle gym." The boy said self-importantly, "They gotta pass a test first."

"Test?" Touya muttered, quirking an eyebrow, and eyeing a near by Hinoki Cyprus as an idea, concocted by his currently befuddle mind, popped into his head.

"What if I climb that tree?" Touya demanded to know, "Will you let me on then?"

The arrogant boy looked thoughtful for moment, then nodded, swinging himself off the bars so he now stood before the pint sized Shinobi.

"Sure." He said with superior smile that reminded Touya a lot of Shishiwakamaru and made him want to hit the child **VERY** much, "You climb that and you can go on **_anything_** ya want."

"**Fine**." Touya shot back, his childish emotions getting the better of him as he stalked over to the tree and drove his fingers into the trunk, beginning his ascent.

The puffed-up boy watched Touya for a moment or two, before grinning to himself and dashing off to get one of the daycare workers: anyone who had attended Sakuranbo Daycare more than a day knew the tree was off limits.

"Yoru-san! **Yoru**-**_saaannn_**!" he hollered, dashing to the teenager, frantically tugging the leg of her jumper.

"Huh?" Yoru turned away from cleaning up the boy known as Hisae-kun, to look down at the yeller, "Indoor voice, Kazahaya. Now, what izzit, lil' dude?"

"The new kid's doin' somethin' baaad." Kazahaya said, pointing out the window at Touya, who was crawling onto a very high branch.

"Ohmi-Shiho? Take care of Hisae, would you?" Yoru called, standing up abruptly and darting outside.

* * *

"Touya-kun? Whatcha doin'?" Yoru asked calmly, trying to quash down any fears she might have of him being hurt by chanting to herself,_ "He's a youkai. Yooooooooukai."_

"He said that if I climbed this tree, I could go on the jungle gym." Touya explained, pointing at Kazahaya before scooting further out on the branch and reaching for one above his head.

Kazahaya knew he was caught when Yoru's hand clapped down on his shoulder.

"Well, Touya-kun, he was obviously mistaken. The toys and outdoor equipment are for everyone." She called up to him, "So why don't you come down, hm?"

"Okay." Touya replied, releasing his hold on the branch above him and hearing a loud **_-KRAK-_** as he did so.

"**TOUYA!**" Yoru gasped, rushing forward as Touya's juvenile brain spiraled into panic, freezing the Juhyou Tsukai as he fell.

His fall was significantly softened by the fact Yoru had managed to get beneath him in time…she hadn't been able to remain standing under his falling weight, but she caught him at least.

"You okay buddy?" she asked, stoking his hair gently as he shook violently, "See? Ya scared yourself pretty bad, didn't ya? You'll be okay though. Not a scratch on ya."

_"Wish I could say the same...owww."_ She thought to herself whinilly as her knees and feet screamed in splintering pain.

She pulled away from Touya and smiled…and did a double take.

"Say…Touya-kun?" she mumbled, "Did you, I dunno, grow about **_eight inches_** in the last five seconds?"

Touya blinked at her, forcing down all traces of childish thought before even thinking about trying to answer that question.

The reflection of himself in the daycare window told him all he needed; he had indeed had the growth spurt she claimed and now had the outward appearance of a ningen twelve year old.

"Hai, Yami…Yoru-san." he replied listlessly, massaging his temples, "I have."

"Just…making sure." She replied, looking at him oddly as she helped him to his feet, before rounding on a child who was attempting to slink away, "**Koizumi Kazahaya!** You stay **_right_** where you are! He could have broken his **neck!** You are in **_BIG_** trouble, lil' dude."

* * *

"What a day." Yoru mumbled, stumbling towards her house after dropping Touya off with Keiko, "Thank **kami-sama** I have a day off tomorrow." 

She dug her keys out of her pocket and went to insert it…when the door creaked open slightly.

_"That isn't good."_ She thought anxiously, narrowing her amber eyes and slipping off her shoes at the door, _"Please tell me that bat's still in the hall closet."_

She crept forward, wrapped her hand around the knob of the hall closet and opened it silently, searching frantically with her eyes and, gave a silent cry of joy.

Yoru took up the metallic bat signed by the entire Hanshin Tigers baseball team and began creep up the stairs, feet automatically remembering where the creaks were.

Loud shuffling noises were coming from her mother's room and, now not caring if she was heard or not, she stormed Miyasu's bedroom, catching the cat burglar seriously off guard.

"**HEY _FUCKFACE!_**" she snarled, bat readied, **"GET AWAY FROM MY KAACHAN'S _STUFF_ ASSHOLE!**"

Rushing him, burglar dropped his bag of plunder and dashed around her, out the door and towards the stairs.

"**GET _BACK HERE_ YOU!**" Yoru yelled.

"What's going on?" Jin wondered, his sensitive ears picking up the commotion from next door.

"Whatever do you mean?" Suzuki asked, following the red-headed Kaze Tsukai to the window.

"Wha's goin' on 'ere then?" Chuu asked, joining them, his jaw dropping at the sight that met his eyes.

Yusuke and Keiko entered the room and raised an eyebrow at the assembled party at the window.

"'cha lookin' at?" Yusuke asked curiously.

"Yer neighbor murderin' s'me rand'm dope." Jin replied, still staring as Yusuke gave a shout, dashing outside while Keiko shrieked and dived for the phone.

"**What exactly do you think you're _DOING?_**" Yusuke yelled, crossing the lawn swiftly and easily subduing his childhood friend, dragging her away from the unconscious man.

"**Beatin' the crap out of a _burglar!_**" she snapped irritably, thrashing around in a valiant, but useless attempt to free herself, "**Whaddya _THINK_, Yusuke-_chaaaaaaaaaaaannnn_?**"

"**Fer the love of _KAMI_ stop _calling_ _me_ that!**" Yusuke barked as taunts of _'Yusuke-chan! Yusuke-chan!'_ and _'Ohhhh Yusuke-chaaannn!'_ could be heard emanating from the house.

"**Yusuke**! Oh good, you restrained her." Keiko breathed as she joined them outside, "I've called the police. They're on their way."

"That's great." Yoru replied wryly, "They can pick up the prowler I just put into a coma."

"Prow…you mean-oh dear." Keiko mumbled, coloring faintly.

"Must we always jump to conclusions?" Yoru sighed before turning to glare at Yusuke, "And will you put me **_down?_**"

"Will you give **Keiko** the **bat?**" he retorted.

"And get her **_prints_** all over it?" Yoru shot back.

"…just drop it next to that guy." Yususke ground out exasperatedly, indicating the unconscious burglar with his toe.

Sometime later, Shishiwakamaru returned back to the Yukimura's with a pair of scantilly clad ganguro...only to be greeted by the flashing red and blue lights of the police and an ambulance next door.

"What the hell happened when I was gone?" he muttered as he led the onna inside.

* * *

(A/N: Yoru visits her brother in the hospital. Touya returns to normal...but all is still not kosher in the Yu Yu world. To fin dout what happens, R&R!)

* * *

(P.S: Your Authoress needs a steady diet of reviews to stay alive. PLEASE FEED AND WATER YOUR AUTHORESS!) 


	6. All Grown Up:::Sorta

(A/N: Hey all, sorry this took so long, but I've been sick. Check out the notes at the end if you get confused anywhere! Enjoy!)

* * *

"All rise…and bow." 

All thirty-two students complied with the class reps demand and bowed deeply to their sensei, the bell signaling their freedom ringing loudly in their ears as they rose upward.

"Have a good day everyone." Kamiyama-sensei, a man of twenty-two years called genially as his students scurried out of the class room.

Keiko sighed, unable to believe that the events of that day had been real. First, Jin and flown in with a most unwillingly Touya (gets airsick) and Chuu for a visit as Yusuke was too busy with home studies to give them the attention they felt they deserved.

Then came Suzuki and Shishiwakamaru, who, upon hearing Keiko attended an all-girls school, jumped at the idea of ningen girls fawning over them and immediately followed after Chuu and Jin.

This meant that poor Keiko was left to baby-sit the four with a chibified Juhyou Tsukai, who was far less intimidating than usual given his current stature.

She just thanked all the gods she knew of that Yoru had classes on the opposing side of the school as herself; after yesterday's debacle, Keiko knew the girl would blow her top.

"**_Oi lassie!_**" Jin called loudly, flying in through an open window after he thought the coast was clear, "Where ya be off t' now?"

"Home." Keiko replied tiredly as Chuu, an apologetic looking Touya on his shoulders, Suzuki and Shishiwakamaru climbed through the window after the Kaze Tsukai, "I've got a **mountain** of homework…why?"

"…paperwork as tall as a foothill?" Suzuki asked, looking interested, "You mean your workload resembles that of Koenma-daioh's?"

"**_Noooo_** It's just an **expression!**" Keiko groaned, massaging her temples, "And anyway, I was going to ask Yoru if she needed anything from the store, but she's probably left by n-"

"Wait just a moment, Yukimura-san." Touya interrupted, an inquisitive look breeching his face, "You mean Yamina…I mean Yoru-san goes to this school too?"

"Yes." Keiko replied with a sigh, continuing to walk towards the school gates where hopefully Yusuke would be waiting to liberate her of these nuisances, "She goes here. Her classes are just on the opposite side of the school."

"Well, looky here. There she goes, mates" Chuu remarked offhandedly, pointing out the window.

* * *

It was true; Yoru was skating away from the school grounds, earphones plugged into her cell, singing very loudly as she went, totally oblivious to the fact that she was being stared at by people on the street and watched by youkai since she was in Happy Headphone Land. 

"**_She gave you everything she haaad…but she was young and dumb, she'd just turned twen-ty-one!_**" she sang, switching along so she glided along backwards, "_**She didn't care to hang a-rounnnd…so when the shit came down, why she was nowhere to be found!**_"

"Didn't know she was into American bands." Keiko remarked as Yoru rounded a corner, out sight, but not out of ear range as she broke into the chorus, "Wonder what has **her** in such a peppy moody?"

"She's going to visit Yuhi." Yusuke replied, throwing an arm around her shoulders as she arrived at the gate.

Noting the look of overwhelming relief she gave him at the sight of his face, he turned to the youkai and sighed, "Alright, whaddid you do?"

"They were their usual, psychotically aggravating selves." Touya muttered from his spot on Chuu's shoulder, "Yukimura-san almost got…what was that thing called again?"

"A double detention." Keiko sighed wearily, causing the Reikai Tantei's eyebrows to shoot up into his hairline, "Enjoji-sensei caught Jin and Chuu peeping in the locker rooms and thought I was mixed up in the whole mess when I yelled out their names while shooing them off."

Yusuke gave Chuu and Jin critical looks, both of whom were whistling in a not-so-innocent way and twiddling their thumbs.

"See anything good?" he asked to be smack upside the head by his girlfriend and Touya, "**ITAI!** **_Jeez!_** It was **just** a **question!** Anyway, what else happened, I can tell by the look on your face there was more."

"Oh yes, that's right." Touya sighed tiredly, slumping forward out of a mixture of exasperation and exhaustion, "Suzuki and Shishiwakamaru were labeled as potential sexual predators when they kept popping around the school grounds to hit on the student body."

Yusuke shot a look at Shishi and Suzuki, shaking his head in apology at Keiko.

"I'll take'm next time." He sighed, slinging an arm over her shoulder, "Rain, snow, sleet or slush…I'll take'em."

* * *

"…should we go visit Yuhi as well?" Keiko asked, eyeing the youkai over her shoulder, "I mean, you know how much Yoru's put off by men...and to have them all there?" 

"Do you really trust them to be alone in your house?" Yusuke asked seriously, causing Keiko to pale from alarm.

"**_To the hospital gents!_**" she called a bit more loudly than necessary, causing Jin to wince.

"I have a bad feeling about this." Touya murmured cryptically, "Maybe we shouldn't g-"

"**NONSENSE, BOY-A!**" Chuu boomed raucously, making Jin's hands fly to his ears and for the wind imp to glare tearfully at the mohawked youkai, "She'll be right **_glad_** t' see us!"

"Is it necessary for you to be so brash?" Shishiwakamaru snorted pompously as they walked along, "The ningen populous is staring-"

"-atcher ugleh mug." Jin ground out irritably, massaging his throbbing ears piteously, "Honestleh Shishi, geddover yerself."

"**_Whoa!_**" Touya yelped suddenly from Chuu's Shoulder, bringing the group to an abrupt halt as his body began glowing again. Knowing what was about to happen, Chuu tossed the Juhyou Tsukai a little more forcibly than needed onto the pavement as he reverted to normal.

"…was that **really** necessary, Chuu?" Touya muttered coolly, clamoring to his feet, catching sight of himself in a puddle and inwardly smiling: he was himself again.

"Good t' have ye' **_back_** Toy!" Jin whooped, flying through the air and tackling Touya to the ground.

"Now the ningens are **really** starting to stare." Shishiwakamaru commented snidely as murmurs and whispers filled the air…as well as giggling and loud snickers.

"Shishi, you're already in hot water for fiddling with the Idunn Box." Suzuki said idly, eyeing a nearby ganguro's practically non-existent skirt, "Not another **_word_** out of you."

"Jin…air…need…oxygen…breathe…need...to…" Touya wheezed, beating at the Kaze Tsukai's arms frantically with his fists.

"**Wups!** Sorreh 'bout thah." Jin replied brightly, releasing his vice like grip and freeing up Touya's windpipe, air rushing in a hoarse gasp.

"Lord, take me now." Keiko moaned as the group finally entered the hospital, under the scrutinizing eyes of the public…all of whom were laughing at them.

* * *

"**_Oneechama!_**" Yuhi cried happily, ignoring the tubes shoved up his nose lean up to give his elder sibling a hug, "Did you bring my Nintendo Wii?" 

"Naturally." Yoru replied, pulling the gaming system out of her bag, "I'll set it up for you, okay?"

"You rock." Yuhi sighed, leaning back against the pillows as she crossed the room to the television, "Honestly…none of the nurses let me do wheelies in my chair. It sucks."

"Well…maybe if you beat me in a couple rounds of Mario Kart, I'll take ya outside." Yoru remarked offhandedly, plugging the necessary connections into the boob tube.

"Now, now…don't make him over exert himself." Miyasu chided from the doorway, coming in to sit on his bedside, "Video games are fine, but don't over do it, please? For me?"

"**Okaaaay**." Both children sighed, knowing what was coming next.

"Did you bring the third controller?" Miyasu asked innocently, twiddling her thumbs as Yoru smirked and tossed it to her.

"I call Daisy." She said with grin scooting onto the gurney with Yuhi, "Honestly, with all of the graphic upgrades they've made over the years, you'd think they'd add more female characters."

"You always make me be that pink priss, Peach. _**Hmph**_." Miyasu pouted, sticking out her lower lip childishly, "No mercy for the ailing I see. Where did I go wrong as kaasan, that my own musume would-"

"Don't you even try t' pull that card Kaachan." Yuhi snickered, thumbing the _UP_ button to prop himself upright, "It's dirty and you know it. 'sides, all's fair in love'n war. I'm Yoshi this round."

The game started up but Miyasu continued to teasingly press the issue.

"But if all's fair in love and war, then why can't I-" she started only to have Daisy cut her off on screen and shoot a flaming turtle shell at her car, "**AAUGH! _NO!_**"

"Because it's **twisted**, mother **_dear_**." Yoru replied sweetly, "And if you want to win and ensure the continued health of your musuko, kaasan, you better keep your eyes on the road."

"Yeah, **kaachan**." Yuhi grinned, passing Yoru on the outside, "Doncha wanna make sure I don't go outside and do doughnuts in the parking lot? Or wheelies in the middle of an inter-"

"**_STOPIT_STOPIT_STOPIT!_**" Miyasu screeched, lapping both her children, making both of them temporarily lose focus from sheer astonishment, "Yuhi, if you wanna destroy your chances of getting better? **FINE!** But, I'm gonna smoke you both!"

"**_Not even in your dreams!_**" Yuhi and Yoru snarled back creeping up on her.

"And I will **not** destroy my chances of getting better by going out**side** for a bit, **Kaachan!**" Yuhi snorted as he and his sister were now neck and neck with their mother, "Chill out, Drama Queen!"

* * *

"Looks like they're having…fun." Touya remarked as Yoru let loose a very loud, frustrated expletive as Yuhi beat her and she came in a not-so-noticeable second, Miyasu coming in a shameful third and beating the gurney with her fist to vent. 

"If you call being totally owned by a ten year old fun, then your ideas of amusement are really twisted." Yusuke said with a wry smile as he pushed open the door, "Hey, how ya doin' shrimp?"

"**_YUSUKE!_**" Yuhi cried happily, dropping the remote and wrapping his arms tightly around the older teen's waist as Yoru's mouth formed a small 'o' of surprise…which quickly twisted into a frown at the sight of the five youkai males crammed in the hallway.

"Oh **my**, so many visitors!" Miyasu said, looking surprised in a good way, as she looked up at the men making their way into her son's room, "To what do we owe the pleasure?"

"Yusuke's a talker, Yaminade-san." Keiko said bluntly, a faint amount of color tingeing her cheeks, "…so am I, tho'. Gomenasai Yoru-kun."

Yoru choose that moment to switch herself off the gurney and ask in a rather strained voice (trying not to sound pissed), "Hey Yuhi, want me to take you outside now?"

"Do I really need to answer that?" he said dully, lowering the metal wall that prevented him from falling off while he slept, "Yeah, I wanna go out now."

"Careful of your oxygen tubes." Yoru warned, opening up his wheelchair next to bed, "Ready? One-two-three – in ya go."

She easily lifted the gaunt, lanky boy off the bed and into the wheelchair. Hefting his oxygen tank onto the back proved a little more difficult, but with a little maneuvering, she managed.

"Hokay…ready?" Yoru asked as Yuhi situated the blanket around his legs.

"Yup." Yuhi replied as she moved forward, "Let's **_rock 'n roll!_**"

* * *

"…still angry at the male population in general I see." Miyasu sighed tiredly, flopping down on the gurney, exhaustion now lining her face, "She has to learn that not all men are snakes like her father." 

"I feel **sorry** for her." Yusuke sighed, scratching the back of his head, "Keeping up a level of hatred **_this_** deep, for **this** long? Must be exhausting."

"I can't say that I know." Miyasu muttered, eyes closed, "I tried to let go of **_that_** old chestnut…'s hard as that's been given the circumstances."

"How have you been, anyway?" Keiko asked with concern, "You look completely wiped."

"Ah just say it, Kei-chan. I look like I've been rode hard and put away wet." Miyasu grunted, causing Jin, Yusuke and Chuu to snort with laughter.

"In all seriousness, Yaminade-san, are you alright?" Touya asked, his pale face not conveying his actual concern.

"…I'm being admitted this evening to tell you the truth." Miyasu said truthfully, "The doc's are getting' a might worried about my lack of energy so they're going to run a few tests and start me on an IV drip just in case."

"That doesn't sound good." Suzuki remarked, taking a seat in a chair located in the corner of the room.

"That's because it's **not**." Miyasu retorted dryly, "I'm probably close to relapsing myself and the quacks here are trying to prevent that."

"Well, **_someone_** isn't very fond of doctors." Shishiwakamaru snorted from his seat on the window sill.

"Well when ya've bin aroun' as many as this lassie, is realleh n' wonder." Jin shot back, sitting on the edge of the bed.

* * *

"I can't **believe** she really didn't come back inside until you guys were gone." Keiko said in disbelief as she chopped some bok choy . 

"Well **_believe_** it." Yusuke replied, scooping up the diced pieces and dumping them into the stew pot, "Jin watched the hospital from above and until Touya and myself left, Yoru stayed in the garden near the entrance of the building with Yuhi."

"Ah least ee 'ad fun." Jin remark, floating over head and sneaking a bit of pork, "She leddem do all sortsa fun stoof on thah thingamahookie."

"**Wheelchair**, Jin." Keiko replied, hitting the youkai's hand with a spoon when he attempted to steal another bit of meat, "Yusuke? Thanks for all your help, but I can manage now. Could you please entertain Jin…elsewhere? Please?"

"Alright. Hint taken." Yusuke smirked, popping a bit of carrot into his mouth before Keiko could complain, "C'mon Jin. Let's see what the Kuwabaka and the other's are up to."

No sooner had the two left the kitchen, than screams of, "**WHAT THE _HELL_ ARE YOU _DOING_ IDJIT?**" "**_Put that_ DOWN!**" "**AUGH! _NO!_**"

Giving into curiosity, Keiko abandoned her cooking and darted into the living room…just as the lid to the 'new and improved' Iduun Box flew open.

"Not again!" Touya spat, punching through a window and diving through as the age altering smoke filled the room.

Landing on his feet, Touya twisted himself around to peek through the window, making sure to keep clear of the smoke that poured through it.

As the haze cleared, Touya allowed himself the luxury of letting his head drop from sheer aggravation.

"What did I ever do to deserve this?" he moaned, letting his forehead thump against the sill in slow succession.

Yoru sat in her living room, rocking her miniature hamster, Bonita, back and forth in her red, plastic hamster ball, reading a three month old copy of Shounen Sunday, when a loud urgent knock came at the door and ended this relatively peaceful moment.

"Hm…whodya think that could be?" Yoru asked of the tiny rodent, whose only response was to roll into the T.V.

Knowing that the little creature wasn't going to provide her with any answers, she marked the page with a pencil and switched herself off the sofa to answer the door.

"Yeah, what - …oh you have **got** to be shittin' me." Yoru mumbled at a sight she could now only vaguely recollect with the help of some old photos scattered around the house: Keiko and Yusuke, only about four or five years in age…along with five other little boys, all of whom were fighting with one another, and looked strangely familiar.

"Help." Touya murmured listlessly, a pleading edge in his voice.

* * *

(1) Cherry Lips - Garbage: the song Yoru's singing as she's skating away; a song about cross-dressing. Very funny in my personal opinon...as well as very catchy. Look it up on YouTube.

(2) Oneechama - an affectionate term for an elder sister.

(3) Nintendo Wii - currently the most advanced gaming system ever created. I'm not sure if it's been brought in from overseas yet though.

(4) Musume - daughter

(5) Kaasan - Mother

(6) Kaachan - Mom

(7) Musuko - son

(8) Bonita the Miniature Hamster - based off my bestest friend's pet hamster. I think it's so cute how the lil' guy rolls around the house in it's little pink hamster ball...but since this is my fic, and I hate pink, I've changed the color. Bonita will be making future appearances people!

* * *

(A/N: Seven ankle-biting, kindergarten aged tots are now in Yoru's life...as well as her father...trying to muscle his way back in to her mother's heart. Obviously she needs some help, but how will she have time between school, work and babysitting seven out of control kids? Four of which aren't even HUMAN? R&R!) 


	7. Hate Is A Strong Word, But:::

(A/N: Hey there. Just warning you. It get's a little depressing towards the end, but real life isn't all happiness, sunshine and rainbows. At any rate, I hope you enjoy this chappie.)

* * *

"Okay, **what** the hell happened here?" Yoru asked, restraining Kuwabara from going after Jin, who currently was hovering behind Touya's head and sticking out his tongue, by gripping the back of his now far too large tee. 

"The same thing that happened to me, Yamina…Yoru-san." Touya replied, holding both Shishiwakamaru and Suzuki in the air by their oversized collars, both of whom were writhing and twisting, frantically trying to get free so they could resume fighting.

The only ones currently not fighting were Yusuke, Keiko and Chuu, who had wandered over to the T.V., Yusuke turning it on and flipping it over to Blues Clues, ultimately distracting the three.

"I see." Yoru replied, removing her hands from the back of Kuwabara's t-shirt freeing him up to perform a very impressive diving tackle.

"Not the wisest of moves." Touya sighed, switching Suzuki into his left hand with Shishiwakamaru, before turning to break up the fight before they broke something…only to find his path blocked by Yoru's arm.

"**_Wait_**, wait, wait." She smirked, crouching down and staring at the brawling pair who began slowing as they felt her eyes burning a hole through them.

Soon they stopped, Jin's fist poised mid-punch and Kuwabara mouth readied to chomp on the Kaze Tsukai's wrist.

"Well **go** **_on_**." Yoru said patiently, resting her hand on her chin, giving the boys the indication that she was going no where.

Slowly, they pulled away from each other and crept to opposite sides of the room, looking rather nervous as the ningen girl rose up from her squatting position.

"**Gawd**. I don't need **_this_**." Yoru groaned, massaging a crick in her back, "Don't you have anyone **else** you could call?"

"Whaddabout Kuwama?" Yusuke suggested, hopping off the sofa to tug Touya's pant leg, peering up at him through huge, chocolate brown eyes.

"**_Who?_**" Yoru blinked.

"Kurama." Touya said, finally tiring of holding Suzuki and Shishi aloft, settled on hanging them from the hat rack by the door, "You met him earlier. The yoko in ningen form. Green eyes?"

"**OH** _**Right**_, right. The one who had hair I would kill for. Right." Yoru supplied, as Yusuke grabbed a hold of Touya's leg, waiting for the youkai to move, "Do you think he could handle this mess?"

"Perhaps." Touya shrugged, joggling his leg slightly, hoping that Yusuke would get the hint and get off, but this only cause Yusuke to hold on tighter and a smile to appear on his face.

"What was it he called himself again?" she mumbled aloud to herself, "Shun? Shunsaku? I know it's Shu something."

"It doesn't matter." Touya sighed, "I can locate Kurama through his youki trail, if you will help me escort this bunch to his current location."

"Fine. If helps me rid myself of you." Yoru snorted.

"You really don't like me, do you?" Touya remarked, stating it as a fact, rather than a question.

"I **_despise_** your kind." Yoru replied casually, walking into the kitchen and her cell, "It doesn't matter where you go. At the core of them, **all** men are the same."

"Whuh's thah'?" Jin asked curiously, peeking out from his hiding place under the sofa.

"Just something in case my mom needs t' reach me." Yoru said giving the chibified wind imp the tiniest of smiles, "At any rate, we better get you to this Shunichi guy's place."

"Why're w' goin' there?" Chuu asked, tugging at the leg of her jeans to get her attention, "What's at this Shun blokes house?"

"Help." Touya replied truthfully striding over to the couch to pluck up Keiko, "Hopefully, he can assist me long enough until you return to your proper selves."

* * *

"Well Miya-chan, it looks as though we got to you just in time." a nurse said cheerfully as she entered the hospital room, chart in hand, "Your white blood cell count was dangerously low." 

"Lovely." Miyasu said sarcastically, rolling her eyes, "So, you're moving me into Yuhi's room when?"

"Later today, Miya-chan." The nurse, who after the many years of treating the woman, was far past using honorifics, smirked, "Until then, you rest up ya hear?"

"**Alright**, **_alright_**, yeesh. You're as big a **nag** as my musume." Miyasu snorted, making the nurse laugh as she turned to leave.

"**_Oh!_** That reminds me. You have a visitor." Nurse called, already out the door, "Should I send him in?"

"Unless you want me to **die** of boredom." Miyasu shot back. flopping back on her bed with a loud, exasperated groan.

"As incorrigible as ever I see." A painfully familiar voice remarked mirthfully from the doorway.

"Aoshi." Miyasu murmured, forcing herself to not look at him, as heat rose into her face "What are you doing here?"

"Can't a man worry about his co-worker?" Aoshi asked innocently, "How quickly you seem to forget that we work for the same firm."

"_**I DIDN'T-!**_ I mean…" Miyasu paused to take a breath and calm herself, "I didn't forget, Aoshi. But after the…incident, I didn't think you'd actually have the **balls** to show your face in front of me."

"Ah, yes. The Nozomi Affair." Aoshi nodded, moving forward to sit on the edge of the gurney, "So tell me, is Yoru still angry?"

"You warped her entire perception of the male populous." Miyasu replied offhandedly, "Your daughter believes **_all_** men are trash, thanks to your act of infidelity."

"And what about you?" Aoshi asked, turning her face to look at him, "Do you hate all men like Yoru? Are you still angry?"

"Water under the bridge." Miyasu remarked calmly, "Being angry at **you** doesn't make **_me_** any **less** sick."

"And what about us? Do you think there's any chance we could…" Aoshi slid his large, rough-palmed hand over Miyasu's much smaller one.

Miyasu's face colored and she found that she had become temporarily mute rendering her incapable of replying.

* * *

"How much farther?" Yoru asked, doing her best to restrain an enraged, pint-sized Shishiwakamaru from launching himself at the Kaze Tsukai perched on her back, "They may be chibified versions of their former selves, but they're still just as strong." 

"Not too much farther." Touya replied, a rather sulky Yusuke slung over his shoulder after flipping Keiko's skirt for the forth time, Keiko herself holding Touya's hand and crying as they walked along, "We are closing in on his current location."

"Closing in on who now?" a terse voice asked from the tree limbs above, "What is all this, Juhyou Tsukai?"

"The Idunn Box." Touya replied in an _'isn't it obvious'_ tone, "Kuwabara didn't recognize and…this is the end result."

"He asked me to help herd the little guys here." Yoru replied evenly, returning Hiei's piercing glare with one of her own, "So where's this, Suekichi guy?"

"If you are referring to Kurama, his residence is two more dwelling's down." Hiei retorted coolly, "And his ningen alias is Shuichi."

"**_Touya!_ Touyaaaa!**" Kuwabara cried frantically, tugging desperately at the Juhyou Tsukai's fishnet sleeve, "Chuu's makin' **_faces_** at me!"

"Ah am **nawt!**" Chuu called from behind Yoru's legs, before sticking his tongue out and pulling down the sides of his lips at Kuwabara.

"_**OI!**_ Dun' **lie!**" Jin cried, leaping off of Yoru's back to sucker punch Chuu in the chin, Chuu retaliating with an elbow to the nose, causing both boys to start bawling.

"**_Ha ha!_** Stoopey heads!" Shishiwakamaru laughed as he was off loaded to Touya so the ningen girl could deal with the boys.

"Like yer any smarder." Suzuki retorted kicking Shishi in the shin, Shishiwakamaru responding in kind by biting Suzuki's wrist.

"I can see where extra help would be necessary." Hiei muttered, before turning on his heel and flitzing away.

* * *

"Well, this is quite the mess, now isn't it." Kurama remarked offhandedly at the site of the fussy, crying, generally annoyed party on his doorstep. 

"Noooo, **really?**" Yoru said sarcastically, having sacrificed the hem of her favorite Rammstein concert tee for the greater good of staunching Jin's bloody nose and Chuu's split lip.

"I require your assistance, Kurama-san." Touya said ruefully, his pride as a man being crushed from uttering those words but his shoulder bone being pulverized even more so as Yusuke thrashed about wildly to free himself.

"Well, I've done **_my_** civic duty as a child care provider." Yoru said shrewdly, plucking Jin from her back, Chuu from her shoulder and Suzuki from her leg, "I'll be moseying on home n-"

_**Hikaru kaze wo oikoshitara  
Kimi ni kitto aeru ne  
Atarashii kagayaki HAPPY READY GO!!**_

"Who could that be?" Kurama asked as Yoru frenetically dug through her pocket for the phone.

"Yuhi." She supplied shortly, as she lifted the cell out of her pocket and slid it open, "It's the tone I set for when he texts me…SOS? What the **hell?**"

She dialed in a number on speed dial and started tapping her foot, the caller on the other line answering on the first ring.

"Hey shrimp. What's the big emergency?" she drawled, "I've already had one today, so this had better be g-…"

Kurama and Touya's demonic ears picked up Yuhi's voice frantically shouting about a man in the next room, cozying up with their mother.

"Oh…really?" Yoru said coolly, eyes fixing themselves in a glare, "Tell me…what does he look like?"

"B-brown eyes…sorta like yours, hair pulled into a ponytail, and a tattoo of a scorpion on his neck." Yuhi supplied, describing his own father to the letter.

"I'll be there in ten minutes." Yoru ground out, hanging up abruptly, turning on her heel hissing, "**Shit_shit_shit_shit_shit_shit_shit!**" under her breath.

"Hiei, I believe Touya-san and myself can handle this lot." Kurama said serenely, "Why don't you ensure Yaminade-chan arrives at the hospital unharmed? She's is in a rather emotional frame of mind…and I know Yusuke and Keiko would not be pleased if she was hurt."

"No need for a long winded speech, kitsune." Hiei muttered from the porch roof, "I ensure she arrives intact."

"Arigato, Hiei." Kurama replied with a smile as he felt the familiar energy signature vanish from his roof top.

* * *

"**_Haa_**…**huhh**…_**haa**_…" Yoru stood in the middle of the hall wheezing for breath, only a few feet away from her mother's hospital room. 

She broken her previous record of nine minutes and twenty-two seconds by three minutes.

The old record had been set when Yuhi had come down with tonsillitis and the school had chosen to inform her while in gym that he was in critical condition.

Upon reaching Miyasu's door, she heard voice's speaking in hushed tones as she approached and slid the door open slightly to hear.

"…I don't know, Aoshi." Miyasu murmured doubtfully, eyes downcast, "What will the **children** think? What will _**Yoru**_ think?"

"We'll deal with it as it comes." Aoshi replied, lifting her chin so she was forced to look at him, "They're going to find out we've gotten back together sooner or later. I'm sure Yoru will be mature about it, and Yuhi will follow suit."

"Do really think?" Miyasu asked, not noticing Aoshi had moved in closer.

"I know." Aoshi said huskily, kissing his former wife, only to have her start away with a gasp.

"**Y-Yoru!**" she cried softly, hands flying to her mouth, Aoshi turning to find the girl from the corner store standing in the door, no expression on her face.

Wordlessly, she slid the door shut.

"Oh god…what have I done?" Miyasu whispered, burying her face in her hands.

"She's…she's grown so much." Aoshi muttered numbly, speaking his thoughts without realizing, "I don't even recognize her. She's not the little girl I left…is she?"

* * *

Hiei was mildly surprised. The ningen hadn't pent even two minutes within the hospital before exiting again, looking a bit more disoriented than when she entered. 

Knowing the Reikai Tantei would beat him black and green if anything should happen to the bakabakashi ningen girl, he begrudgingly followed after her.

A good thing too, because not two seconds later, she ignored a traffic signal and wandered into the crosswalk while light was red.

Darting between the human road blocks, he easily grabbed her wrist and pulled her back onto the sidewalk.

Grumbling under his breath he marched over to a bench and forced her to sit, not that it took much coercion in the state she was in.

"I guess this tears it." she mumbled bleakly, "If all men are genetically encoded to be manipulative jackasses…then all women must be genetically predisposed to being stupid enough to believe them."

With those words she slumped forward, fingers gripping the fabric of her jeans tightly as she began to sob.

"_Kurama._" Hiei thought quickly, sending the telepathic message the spirit fox who had just manage to force Kuwabara back to his normal self.

"_What is it Hiei? You sound troubled_." Kurama's voice remarked in the jaganshi's mind, as Kurama himself finished Keiko reversion and moved on to Chuu.

"_The girl is crying._" Hiei said flatly in his mind, sending Kurama the obvious message, _'Do Something About It Cause I'm Not Touchin' That With A Twenty Ft. Pole'_ by his tone.

"Well I've just finished assisting Keiko." Kurama replied calmly, "I'll have Jin fly her over when I'm finished with him."

"_Very well. But do hurry_." Hiei muttered, noting how many disapproving stares he was getting, "_These ningens are truly becoming bothersome._"

"_So impatient._" Kurama remarked, "_Very well, I'll have Touya bring her by land since you don't seem to want to wait._"

* * *

(A/N: Aoshi moves in, Yoru moves out. How long will Yoru last supporting herself? Will Miyasu chose her old flame over her children? And what of Yoru's man-hating ways? Will they continue? Or will an event occur that shifts her whole perspective? R&R!)


	8. One Is The Loneliest Number, Right?

(A/N: Hey all! Tis I, the Former Shinigami Goumon, now Hisa-me Kurai! Without further adieu, here's the next chappie!)

* * *

"Yuhi?" Miyasu said tentatively, noting the territorial look on her son's face at the sight of a man he did not know with his arm draped over her shoulder, "I believe that some introductions are in order. Hun? This man is your father – Aoshi."

If Miyasu had expected the look on her son's face to change, it didn't: it remained locked in that same, protective _"get your freakin' hands off my mom_" expression.

"Annnnnnnd?" Yuhi drawled, eyes locked on the offending arm, trying to psychically will it from it's position on his mother's shoulders.

"Well, um…he's-he's going to be living with us again, dear." Miyasu said awkwardly, "We're going to be a family again."

Now Yuhi's expression changed…into one of pure disbelief and horror.

"Do you just expect for me to accept this guy into our house after he walked out on us for ten freakin' years?" Yuhi asked incredulously, turning his gaze on Aoshi, "I hate you."

"Yuhi, c'mon." Aoshi said in an almost pleading tone as Yuhi flopped on his side, clamped both hands over his ears and began chanting, "**_LA_LA_LA_LA_LA!_** **I-_AM_-NOT-_LIST_-EN-_ING!_ LA_LA_LA_LA!_**"

"All I'm **asking** for is a **_chance_**, son." Aoshi begged, grabbing Yuhi carefully by the shoulders and turning him, with a degree of difficulty with all of his thrashing, to face him.

"Why should give **you** a chance?" Yuhi asked scathingly, "**_You're_** the reason I'll never be **normal!** The only **_normal_** one left in this effed up family of ours is **oneechama** and **_SHE'S_** sick in the **head** because of you!"

"**I _made_ a mis_take!_**" Aoshi cried, now looking very angry, "Aren't I at least allowed a second chance?"

"**Mistake?**" Yuhi cried, laughing now, "You call ruining my life, **_and_** kaachan's, **AND** oneechama's a mis**_TAKE?_** Oh this is **too** good."

"**_Yuhi!_** That. **Is**. Enough." Miyasu ground out quietly, silencing her child with a look, "The fact of the matter is I'm tired Yuhi. I can't keep relying on my paychecks alone to foot our medical bills anymore. We need to lean on each other."

Miyasu looped her arm with Aoshi's.

"And…you could use more positive male influences in your life..." She sighed, letting her head fall against his shoulder, "...buuuut I'm afraid this is the best I can do for the time being. Okay?"

"...he can **_stay_** as long as he wants." Yuhi mumbled, giving Aoshi's hand a good, hard pinch before flopping back on his side again, "Doesn't mean I'm gonna like it…or be the least bit nice about it."

* * *

"Whuh in Yama's name's goin' on?" Jin muttered curiously, pressing his pert nose against the glass of the window, fogging it slightly as her stared through it. 

"What are you going on about Jin?" Touya yawned, having been forced to share a room with the wind imp since he was the only one used to his F-3 hurricane snores.

"There summat goin' on next door." Jin said, never removing his eyes from the house next door, "Urameshi's lass be o'er there as well. She sounds moiteh sore."

"What do you mean?" Touya asked blearily, fully intent on going back to sleep if it was the last thing he ever did; after all, a full night's sleep for a Shinobi such as himself was a rare occurrence indeed.

"_**Shh!**_" Jin hissed, waving a hand at the Juhyou Tsukai as an indication to hush up, "'m tryin' t' foind out."

Touya stared at the back of Jin's fuzzy head sleepily, feeling the lead weights sewing themselves into his eyelids as the began to slide shut of their own accord.

"**WHAAAAA?**" Jin cried loudly, startling Touya out of Happy-Shleepy-Time-Land and hurtling him ass-first into I'm-Awake-And-Pissed-Land, "Sh's **_leavin'?_**"

Touya fought down his first instinct to ensure the Kaze Tsukai would never procreate by freezing his balls off, and forced himself to take a deep, shuddering breath returning his mind to a far more tranquil state.

"Who is leaving Jin?" Touya asked calmly, face not revealing the inner struggle as he meditated to maintain his icy outlook.

"Tha' **Yoru** lassie!" Jin cried, not caring apparently if he roused the Mazoku and had him unleash his demonic fury on the Ningenkai at six fifteen in the morning, "Sh's movin' away"

"…are you sure Jin?" Youya asked, feeling his mind becoming calmler and calmer by the second as the effects of meditation set in.

"Urameshi's lass is tryna talk'er outta it." Jin said heatedly, pressing his large ear against the glass more, unaware of how dangerously close the glass was coming to giving way under the pressure, "Buh' sh's not 'avin much luck."

* * *

"Yoru come **_on!_** Be **reasonable!**" Keiko said in a pleading tone as the bull-headed girl stalked past her with a full, cardboard box in her arms. 

"I **_am_** being reasonable." Yoru said calmly as she loaded the box onto the moving van, "I swore to myself that if that man ever came back into my mother's life and wormed his way back into the house, I would move out."

"Yoru, do you even have the **means** to **_afford_** an apartment?" Keiko sputtered as Yoru went back into the house to get another box, "And what about **food?** Did you even _**think**_ about that?"

"Keiko, I've been saving up for a house since I was four**teen**." Yoru called from somewhere upstairs, "I haven't spent a single **_yen_** from **any** of my paychecks. And I've already **_called_** the apartment manager in Shibuya and set everything up."

"But what about **YUHI?**" Keiko cried as Yoru appeared at the top of the stair s with another box, "Did you think about **_him_** at all? How will **he** handle all this with **_you_** gone?"

"Oh, I'll still visit him." Yoru replied calmly as she walked carefully downstairs, "I'll even bring him over to visit. And if I get even the slightest suspicions that that man is leeching off of mom, I'll take them both to court and fight for custody."

"But…but…" Keiko sputtered as Yoru slid into the passenger seat of the moving van, slamming the door shut, "**THIS IS COM_PLETELY_ IN_SANE!_**"

"Here." Yoru said with a smile, extending a piece of paper out the window, "This is my new address. I'll give ya a buzz when I'm settled."

The driver started up the van and backed out of the driveway.

"Later Keiko!" Yoru called from the window, waving furiously, "I'll see ya in school!"

"**Yoru!** **ANATA _BAKA!_**" Keiko shouted after the vehicle as it left her in a flurry of dust.

* * *

"Miya-chan?" a nurse asked from the doorway, holding a cordless phone in her hand, "You have a phone call from someone named Yukimura Keiko. She sounds pretty desperate to talk to you. Do you want to-" 

"Kei-chan?" Miyasu asked, holding out her hand to accept the phone, "Sure. Wonder what the fuss is about. Yello?…moved ow-whaddya **mean** moved out?"

Both Aoshi and Yuhi's heads whipped around at those words.

"I…I see…" Miyasu murmured shakily, "Thank you…for letting me know. Ja."

"She's…she's gone?" Aoshi asked numbly, barely registering as Miyasu nodded shakilly, "But…but how?"

"Simple." Yuhi droned out monotonously, "She found an apartment, called a moving company and hauled her crap out of the house."

"**_YUHI!_**" Miyasu said sharply, glaring at the back of his head piercingly, "This is **no** joking matter."

"I wasn't joking." Yuhi muttered, letting his eyes slide shut, "I think that you're just blowing the whole thing out of hand."

"What are you saying?" Aoshi ground out, not invading Yuhi's personal bubble: he knew better than to attempt crossing that boundary yet.

"I'm saying…that oneechama's been basically taking care of herself since she was…well…**_my_** age." Yuhi said coolly, "Since the two of us were almost constantly in the hospital and/or at work, kaachan, she's been fending for herself, by herself, right?"

"…I suppose so." Miyasu sighed, hating how the disease had forced her son to mature precipitately, "It's just…I thought it would be at **least** another year or so before she…"

"I believe I may have some influence on her decision." Aoshi sighed, scratching the back of his head sheepishly, "I thought you might have been exaggerating slightly, hun, but it seems that I was-"

"Sadly…mistaken." Miyasu groaned, letting herself slump forward, "Lord, this sucks. And I only had two more days before I was gonna be released from here. Damn it all."

"Nice language, kaachan." Yuhi snorted, rolling his eyes, letting them rest on his father, "I suppose you kiss **_him_** with that mouth?"

"That's enough of that." Aoshi said quickly, cheeks reddening slightly.

* * *

"Hey girly, Wheredya want this?" a mover asked, shifting from foot to foot as he and another man supported the weight of her mattress. 

"First room on the left." Yoru said vaguely as she checked her front pocket to make sure that Bonita was still sleeping soundly inside.

The location of her hamster still known, she took in the nine-hundred and twenty square feet of her apartment a look of approval in her eyes.

Two bedrooms, one bathroom, a very roomy living room that she would need to purchase furniture for, a decent sized kitchen and a laundry room down the hall in room L4 (she's in room 402, on the fourth floor…you do the math)

"Not too shabby if I do say so myself." Yoru said with a small smile as she felt her pocket twitch as a tiny head popped out of it.

"**HOMIGOD!**" A mover yelped as she extracted the tiny rodent from her pocket and popped her into the red hamster ball, "**A _RAT!_**"

Yoru shot a withering look at the man and set the plastic ball on the floor.

"How do you mistake a hamster for a rat?" she muttered as a knock came at the door, "**IT'S OPEN!**" she yelled, watching with a tiny smirk and a certain amount of satisfaction as the mover danced out of the way of Bonita as she rolled down the hall.

"Hey there, new neighbor!" a cheerful, dimly familiar male voice called cheerfully, "I'm a member of this building's Welcoming Committee."

Yoru tore her amber eyes away from the site of the mover nearly wetting himself to see…

"Kamiyama-sensei?" she murmured, recalling him as the sub for her Studio Arts Class as she quirked an eyebrow and folding her arms over her chest, "You live here, too?"

"Eh?" the Literary Arts teacher blinked in surprise at seeing the familiar face of his Teacher's Aid from two weeks before, "Yaminade-kun? You're the new tenant?"

* * *

"Hey Touya, whatcha doin'?" Yusuke asked, peering at the Juhyou Tsukai over the sofa. 

"Reading." The ice youkai replied, never shifting his gaze from the pages which held him spellbound.

"What kinda book is it?" Yusuke asked in a uncertain tone that said, _'I'm-Trying-To-Make-Myself-Care-But-I-Really-Really-Don't'._

"Les Miserable." Touya replied in a detached voice as she turned another page, "Kurama loaned it to me. It's plot is strangely compelling for a ningen manuscript."

_"Talk about watching paint dry..." _Yusuke thought sheepishly, "Wanna take a break and train with me, Jin and Chuu for a bit?"

"Mm-mm." Touya replied, shaking his head slightly, "In sharing a room with Jin for as long as I have, I've learned that if I do not do my reading while he's preoccupied, I won't be doing it at all."

"Your loss." Yusuke shrugged, leaving Touya to his reading.

Alone at last, Touya sighed contentedly, preparing himself to enjoy the Ningenkai piece of literature, when he was rudely interrupted by-

**_-CRASH-BANG-BOOM-_**

The book flew from his hands and he fumbled with it wildly, catching it after a moment and letting a breath he had been subconsciously holding free.

"**SHISHI! OPEN THIS DOOR _RIGHT_ _NOW!_**"

"_Ahhh…behold the wonders of the rare_ _Shishiwakamaru and his habitual early morning primping..." _Touya thought to himself, mimicking the fashion of a ningen television host, switching himself off the sofa and striding towards the foot of the.

He saw Suzuki standing before the closed, obviously locked, bathroom door, in little more than a towel and a furious scowl, pounding at the kekkai that protected it with his fist like a madman.

"**_SHISHI!_ I WAS STILL _USING_ THAT! OPEN _UP!_**"

No response.

"**I HAVE A RIGHT TO THE BATHROOM _TOO_, I'LL HAVE YOU KNOW!**"

This time, he was greeted by the sound of Shishi's loud, off key singing.

"**_SHISHI!_**"

**_-BANG-BANG-BANG-_**

The only sound was Shishiwakamaru singing even louder to the ningen karaoke tune he had gotten stuck in his head last night after watching _Karaoke Is Nihongo For Off Key_.

As Touya grew closer to the stairs he heard the strains of, "Furi tsudzuku ame no naka de…Utsuroge ni sora wo miageteita_..."_

"**Hmph! _Be_ that way!_ Conceited bastard!_**" Suzuka turned up his nose, folded his arms across his chest and stomped childishly down the stairs.

"Suddenly, I'm reminded of a story about a pot and a kettle..." Touya muttered absentmindedly, his eyes still on the book.

**_-CRASH!-_**

"What in the world?" Touya murmured as Keiko streaked down the stairs past him, plastering herself against the wind: to the Juhyou Tsukai, it sounded like a tree had fallen out back.

Keiko loosed a shriek and shot out the back door, screamed, "**_YUUUSUKE!_**"

_"What now?"_ Touya wondered mildly, placing a bookmark and tearing his eyes from the pages to look out the window.

* * *

His ice blue eyes widened slightly, before sliding shut as he shook his head in incredulity. 

A tree had indeed fallen, and near the far end that used to be the top, Jin was struggling, head down, and yelling incomprehensible profanities at his captor.

Doubled up on the ground, laughing so hard he couldn't stand anymore, was Chuu.

Currently being whooped upside the head by his girlfriend for destroying a twenty year old hinoki cyprus, was Yusuke.

"Trying to beat his best time again, no doubt," said a slightly exasperated, yet, faintly amused Touya.

"It looks as though he zigged when he shoulda zagged...again." Suzuki said between chuckles.

"I think he may have gotten his hair tangled in the branches as well." Touya smirked, "Let's offer him some assistance."

"We may as well, but do you think we could possibly wait until I get Yusuke's camera?" Suzuki asked, trying the puppy dog eyes out on the Juhyou Tsukai just for kicks.

"Tempting…but it appears to me as though he's suffering enough humiliation as is." Touya replied placidly, "Besides, do not forget who has to deal with him when he vents his dissatisfaction later. Believe me when I say that that ningen stereotype about redheads and short tempers holds some degree of truth to it…at least in his case."

* * *

(A/N: Yoru adjusts easily to living alone, but due to stress, Miyasu's health takes a serious down swing. Her grandparents are willing to help, but only if she agrees to go on an omiai with someone they've arranged. R&R!)


	9. Oh, What NOW?

(A/N: Hey all! I'm still alive and kickin'! Under my new pen name, Hisa-me Kurai! Anyhoo, this chappies a doozie, so let me know you think!)

* * *

"**_Darn it!_** Why can't Ijima-sensei take her **own** paperwork to the office? These things weigh a **_ton!_**"

Keiko shifted the weight of the files in her arms with a grunt, hoping that there were no unfortunate souls in her path…because woe betide them if they caused her to trip.

"I **hate** being a Teacher's Aid." She mumbled irritably, making her way cautiously down the stairs, "They **_always_** take advantage."

"Hey Keiko."

"Oh, hey Yusuke." Keiko said absentminded, continuing past the open window in which her boyfriend casually sat…**_waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaait_** a minute…"**YUSUKE?**"

Keiko's arms gave way, sending the manila file folders spilling to the floor as she gaped at the Mazoku and quickly scanned the empty hallway for any possible gossip whores.

"_What are you doing here?_" she hissed, stooping down to scoop up the scattered papers, shooting an incensed look at the boy.

"Because, we have problem." Yusuke said simply, watching as Keiko shuffled random papers into arbitrary file folders.

"_Well they had better be some pretty important problems._" Keiko whispered fiercely, checking the halls again, "_I'm risking suspension just talking to you!_"

"Oh trust me." Yusuke said mysteriously, "It's definitely worth your interest. C'mon in here, Touya."

There was a grunt of annoyance and the sound of someone struggling just outside the window.

"Urameshi-san! Don't make do this on my own!" a rather vexed, childish voice said irritably, "This wretched garb of mine keeps getting in my path!"

"Oh no." Keiko moaned as Yusuke leaned out the window and came back up with the Juhyou Tsukai, more chibified than ever before, "Not again! How on earth did this happen?"

"Shishiwakamaru happened." Touya grumbled irritably, getting no gratification as Yusuke sat him down on the window sill, "He used the book I borrowed from Kurama as kindling to make baked yams."

"If Shishi's nothing else, he's a great cook." Yusuke said with a nod, remembering the wonderful taste of the Yams Ala Jean Val Jean.

Shooting a piercing look at her boyfriend, Keiko gave Touya look indicative that he should continue.

"At any rate, I was seething and preparing myself to freeze that featherhead into a delightful ice sculpture for your backyard, Yukimura-san." Touya said, a tiny, vindictive smile appearing on his lips, "But the next, thing I know…I'm…like this."

* * *

"I hate this **_sooooo_** much!" Yoru muttered irritably under her breath, jiggling her foot irritably and drumming her fingers, "Mom? Yuhi? I must **really** love you guys to even **_consider_** doing something as stupid as **this**." 

Yoru was currently out of school, dressed as nicely as her current wardrobe would allow.

Why is this? Let's recap a bit…shall we?

Miyasu, only minutes from being released from the hospital, relapsed so badly that she had to be taken to the ICU – (behold the wonders of stress on the human body.)

And, since Miyasu was on unpaid sick leave from work, there was no way she could afford her medical bills **_AND_** Yuhi's on Aoshi's income alone (you can almost hear the soap opera montage.)

She needed help.

Which she received from a rather unlikely source – Tezuya and Konoka Himura – Miyasu's estranged parents.

Firmly set in the old traditions, the pair had disowned their middle child when she rebelled, doing so by eloping with Aoshi rather than going along with the arranged marriage they set up for her.

Parent and child had maintained their bitter silence for over eighteen years, but were now prepared to deal; an equivalent exchange if you will (how very FMA)

The Himura's would foot the hospital bill for both Miyasu and Yuhi…if Yoru agreed to go on an omiai with a prospective husband they had selected for her.

So here Yoru sat, staring at the dessert in her spoon as she switched it back and forth, tossing around the idea of ditching the omiai all together, knowing if she did, her mother would be going into serious debt.

"I hate having a conscience sometimes." Yoru muttered to herself, taking another bite of her Marron Chocolate Parfait, "I swear…if they weren't family I'd…do the exact same thing. **_Gaaaawd_** dammit. I **hate** being a push over."

* * *

"This is bad." Keiko murmured as she and Yusuke walked hurriedly along, Touya in their arms, "We have absolutely no idea when we'll turn back." 

"Well, maybe you wont turn back." Yusuke said quickly as they sped along.

"What do mean, Urameshi-san?" Touya asked, twisting around in Keiko's arms to look at the Reikai Tantei.

"Well look, you changed back when you raised the level of your youki suddenly, right?" the mazoku asked.

"…yes." Touya said, not really following as he had just spotted a inuko on the other side of the street, which his juvenile brain was screaming at him to go play with.

"Well Keiko, A) doesn't have youkai, and B) doesn't know how to control her energy." Yusuke said matter-of-factly, not noticing that Keiko was now trembling with rage.

"**DID YOU JUST CALL ME _WEAK_ YOU SEXIST?**" Keiko screeched, her grip on Touya tightening to a point where all oxygen to his brain was sufficiently being cut up.

"No I didn't." Yusuke replied with a cheeky grin, "But you might wanna knock that off before the police haul your ass in."

"Distraction tactics wont work this time." Keiko growled, as Touya started clawing frantically at her arms, "Touya-kun knock it off that-**_AAUGH! TOUYA!_**"

Touya's face was a rather interesting shade of purple by the time Keiko let him go; air had never tasted more delicious.

"I am **so** **_sorry_** Touya!" Keiko cried as he took in several deep breaths of air, massaging his sore ribcage.

"It was a mistake, Yukimura-san." Touya said dismissively, "Just forget that this unpleasantness ever happened."

"But this still leaves us on square one." Yusuke said thoughtfully, effectively changing subjects and diverting attention away from his girlfriend's act of accidental child abuse, "What are we gonna do?"

* * *

"Yaminade-kun? What are you doing here? Why aren't you in school?" 

Yoru glanced up at the somewhat familiar voce, and was rather surprised to see-

"Kamiyama-sensei." she muttered, setting down her spoon, "If you really must know, I'm waiting on my…**omiai.**"

She spat the last word out to show her disdain.

"You don't sound very happy about it." the man smiled, gesturing towards the seat beside her, and Yoru nodding telling to feel free to sit, "I'll admit, omiai's and arranged marriages are old fashioned, but they have worked out for a lot of people."

"…sounds to me like you aren't bothered by the idea at all." Yoru said frankly, scooping up another spoonful of parfait.

"Don't misunderstand me." Kamiyama-sensei said, holding up his hands defensively, "I don't abhor the idea of arranged marriages myself. Asking your children to give up their right to choose seems rather selfish if you ask me."

Yoru appeared to be considering accepting this response for a second before she let loose a long, loud, frustrated sigh.

"Kaachan **always** used to tell me that when people were meant to be with one another, they would be joined together by a red string." Yoru mumbled reflectively, "**_How_** in the **hell** am I supposed to find that person if I'm **_arranged_** to marry some guy I've never met?"

"You really are dead set against this aren't you?" Kamiyama-sensei smiled, resting his chin in his hand.

"Wouldn't **you** be?" Yoru cried, eyes widening in shock, "My grandparents are trying to decide **_my_** future **for** me! I can't and **_wont_** accept it!"

"…you are a far bolder person than I gave you credit for." Kamiyama-sensei said with a smile, "Wish I was more like that."

"I mean…it's all so unfair." Yoru muttered, chewing on the end of her spoon, "I **hate** guys. All they do is manipulate the truth to however it suits them and go through women like Kleenex."

"…well, we're not all bad." Kamiyama-sensei chuckled, "I can't say that I know how you formed your opinion, but all I can say is that anyone you choose would be lucky to have you."

"..eh?" Yoru blinked, feeling unwanted heat rising in her cheeks.

"At any rate, it looks as though your omiai is running decidedly late." Kamiyama remarked, gesturing toward a nearby arcade, "You want to while away the time in there?"

"**_You_** like video games?" Yoru asked, rising to her feet, "Funny…you **really** don't come off as a teacher…you know that?"

"Hey, I'm **_only_** twenty-two!" Kamiyama-sensei scowled huffily as they walked into the arcade, "Don't talk as though I was a wrinkled, old geezer."

"Well it's kind of difficult for me, ya know." Yoru remarked, approaching Street Fighter II, "If you think about it, I've only seen you in a school setting."

* * *

"What to do what to d-**HOLLEECRAP!**" Yusuke cried as Touya returned to normal in his arms, "Warn me before you do that dude, okay?" 

"I apologize." Touya said politely, clamoring of the Reikai Tantei's chest, "But I was unaware that it was going to occur."

"But…why did you change back now?" Keiko stammered, eyes wide and looking around in case anyone had happened to see, "You weren't **_doing_** anything different than usual…were you?"

"No. But the authoress was probably sick of me being a child." Touya remarked as he dusted himself off and readjusted his Shinobi garb.

"What was that?" Yusuke asked, quirking an eyebrow at the strange rant that had just tumble from the Juhyou Tsukai's lips, "What did you say?"

"I said, Urameshi-san, that while I haven't been doing anything different, perhaps the effect wore off after awhile." Touya said, annoyance flickering across his face from having to repeat himself.

"Look, let's just get home before anything **else** happens." Keiko pleaded, motioning down the street to her rooftop.

"Hate to burst your bubble Keiko…but something else already **_has_** happened."

Whipping around, they found none other than Kuwabara Shizuru behind them, a chibified Kuwabara slung over her shoulder, bound with a length of extension cord.

"I'm not sure what exactly set it off…but this happened to him after he flew completely off the handle when he lost at SoulCalibur." Shizuru commented calmly, taking a drag on her cigarette, "And from what Kurama told me, that clown faced freak and the narcissist became like this too. I was heading his way."

"This is just **too** much." Yusuke moaned, massaging his temples, "What next?"

"Remind me to destroy the Idunn Box the next time I see it." Touya said vaguely.

* * *

"**_Whoa_**…look at how late it is." Yoru remarked after playing video games with her sensei for lord only knows how long, "And that ass never showed up…must've been thinking along the same lines as me." 

"Yaminade-kun, I've been meaning to ask you, who's the name of your omiai?" Kamiyama-sensei asked as the pair exited the arcade.

"**Ahhhh**, I **_suck_** at names." Yoru said whiney tone of voice as she furrowed her brow, trying to muster up the name, "I can't for the life of me remember the surname…but I remember that his first name was Kouta."

Kamiyama-sensei started at the name, which went completely unnoticed by Yoru who was still trying to will her memory to summon up the forgotten surname.

"Kakizaki? Kamino? Kamimura?" she ticked off, prodding her forehead, "Something starting with Ka."

"…Yaminade-kun…" Kamiyama-sensei said tentatively, placing a hand on her shoulder, forcing her to turn to face him, "My name is Kouta. Kamiyama Kouta."

Yoru's eyes widened in shock.

"How long…" she murmured, her voice trembling in a mixture of anger and embarrassment, "How long have you known that-"

"Please let me explain!" Kouta said quickly, "I was on my way to meet my omiai too, and, I can't say much for my memory seeing as I couldn't remember the name of the person I was supposed to be meeting!"

"You're **lying!**" Yoru spat furiously, shaking her head and attempting to get out of his grasp.

"I'm **_not!_**" He cried, his dark blue eyes filled with desperation, "Sure, when I saw you sitting there, I thought it was a little strange, but-"

"You're **just** like **_all_** the others you manipulative piece of **crap**!" Yoru cried out viciously, "Now let me **_go!_**"

"Yaminade-kun, why has your opinion of me changed so drastically?" Kamiyama-sensei said in frustration, "We had a pleasant day together, nothing went wrong, then we find out we were supposed to be meet today in the first place. **How** is that deception?"

"…" Yoru opened and closed her mouth in a rather carp-like fashion, unable to find an effective counter in her database.

"I truly apologize for everything, Yaminade-kun." Kamiyama-sensei said, bowing deeply, "As we live in the same apartment complex, might I be allowed to walk you home? It is a dangerous time of night, and as a teacher, I must look out for the well being of my students."

Yoru closed her mouth and nodded shortly, allowing her teacher to take the lead.

_"As a teacher…huh?"_ Yoru mused irritably.

* * *

(A/N: Yoru is confused as to how she feels...Kamiyama Kouta is on the same page. More pyschosis on the chibi front as well! R&R!)


	10. IMVU

(A/N: Hi all, sorry I haven't updated in so long: combo of writer's block and starting up a new relationship. At any rate, here's the next chappie! Enjoy!)

* * *

Upon parting ways with Kamiyama-sensei, Yoru stormed over to her VAIO and immediately logged onto IMVU to offload her stressful day on an anonymous pixilated ear. 

After checking her messages, a pop up appeared, letting her know that someone wanted to chat with her and, she instantaneously double clicked on the invitation, ready to vent.

While waiting for her avvie, **Bokusatsu**, to load on screen, she absentmindedly drummed her fingers until her speakers made the all too familiar pong-ing noise indicative of an IM that seemed to startle Yoru no matter how often she'd heard it before.

"Hey. How goes it?" the stranger asked her.

Yoru peered to the male avatar on the monitor. It was dressed in Shinobi garb, Cloud Strife hair and a naginata and it's screen name was **LinKuei**.

"Bad." she typed in quickly, feeling rather foolish as she re-thought her plan, making her avatar shake it's head, "Never mind. You'd think its stupid."

"Howdyu know that?" **LinKuei** asked, shrugging his shoulders on screen, "I mean, you haven't even told what happened yet."

"…alright. But I'll only tell you if you swear not to laugh, or breath a word of this to anyone." Yoru typed quickly, feeling apprehension twist her insides.

"Who would I tell?" **LinKuei** asked, the avatar shrugging it's shoulders, "I don't know you. Why would I do something like that?"

"Good point." Yoru typed, making her avatar nod in agreement, "Alright then, as long as you promise, I went on an omiai today, and I went in expecting it to be horrible and awkward."

"And it wasn't?" **LinKuei** asked, "That's why your day was bad? Because it wasn't tense and unpleasant? That's a bit strange don't you think?"

"No, no, no!" she typed, wanting to remove her fingers from the keys long enough to yank at her hair, "My omiai not only lied and said he forgot my name, but he was my teacher!"

"Now the teacher thing I can understand being weird, especially if he's an old fogey." **LinKuei** nodded, "But howdyu know this guy lied to you? Maybe he just forgpt out of nerves."

"…well he says he couldn't remember his omiai's name." Yoru typed, feeling an embarrassed heat fill her cheeks, "…I couldn't remember my omiai's surname…but I remember his first name at least."

"And that proves he was lying how?" **LinKuei** asked, "Maybe the guy honestly forgot."

"I don't know." Yoru typed, feeling more and more embarrassed with each keystroke, "I guess...he could have been telling the truth."

"You really aren't the trusting type, are you?" **LinKuei** stated, the avatar laughing lightly on the monitor, "Was admitting you were wrong so painful?"

"Well, yeah." Yoru sulkily made her avvie reply, "As if you don't have a shred of pride in your body."

"Of course I do." **LinKuei** replied evenly, "But I try my best to not jump to conclusions like that. I mean really, Evil Knievel couldn't have made that leap."

"I DIDN'T JUMP TO CONCLUSIONS!" Yoru typed quickly, feeling more embarrassed and frustrated with each passing second.

"Then why did you assume this guy lied then?" **LinKuei** asked, not allowing her anger of being found in the wrong to draw him into a pointless argument, "What are you so afraid of? That you might actually enjoy his company? That you migh actually start to like him or something?"

Yoru logged out so fast she nearly snapped the key board in half.

* * *

"Jin, stop hitting Kuwabara." Keiko begged as the little boy chased the now sobbing Kuwabara around the room, whalloping him over the head with a pillow. 

Shizuru, while not the most proactive usually, to the initiative in this instance…by grabbing Jin by the ear, pulling him to the ground and pinning him there with her foot as Kuwabara continued to bawl into the left leg of her new Tsubi jeans.

"**Shishi took my banky!**" Suzuki wailed mournfully, performing his best impersonation of a boneless baby as he flopped backwards on the floor, "**_UWAAAAUUGH!_**"

"Children." Hiei muttered irritably, watching the whole situation from the safety of the stairway as Kuwabara and Suzuki suddenly returned to normal, "Glad **I** wasn't one for very long."

Kurama's keen hearing picking up on the koorime's statement, and being in a rather foul mood from Hiei's staunch refusal to help when Yusuke and Chuu had turned (his hair would never be the same), Kurama decided enough was enough.

He stormed to the closet where the Idunn Box had been temporarily stored (he had planned on giving it to Ayame so it could be stored in Enma Daioh's Treasure vault) and strode over the expedient youkai with his green eyes glittering with ill intent.

Summoning up vines to hold the koorime in place, he quickly opened and shut the box, making sure Hiei got a good lungful of the potent smoke that poured out.

"You may not have been a child before…but you certainly are now." Touya remarked as Shishiwakamaru and Jin returned to normal.

"Gentleman, and ladies, may I introduce you all to Hiei-**_chan_**." Kurama said coolly, lifting up the toddler with the tiniest of smirks dancing on his lips.

That smirk however was quickly wiped off his face as Hiei kicked him square in the jaw…with all the force of his former adult self.

"**DA!**" he crowed, burbling happily as the kitsune hissed in pain and came millimeters away from dropping him.

"Well, well, woodja **_looky_** 'ere!" Chuu said with a grin, extracting the chibified Hiei from the agonized Kurama, "Lil' buggah's preedeh cute when 'e was lil'."

"**Bwee!**" Hiei babbled gleefully, wiggling in Chuu's hands as the youkai took a seat on the stairs, situated Hiei on his knee and bounced him, which made the little youkai squeal in delight.

"How's your face, Kurama?" Shizuru asked calmly, not caring if his family allowed smoking in their home or not and lighting up right there.

"Do you **_really_** need to ask?" Yusuke said blandly as Keiko hurried into the kitchen to make an ice pack, "Hiei maybe a bit smaller than usually, but he's hasn't gotten any weaker because of it."

"Next time I see Ayame, the Idunn Box is going to Enma's vault." Kurama scowled, wiping blood from his lip, "In the meantime, Suzuki, work on someway to…sort everyone out please."

"Of course." Suzuki nodded, dusting himself off and wiping a few stray tears off his face, "I'll get right on it."

* * *

"What was that all about?" Yoru mumbled, no where near awake. After her online chat, she had been unable to sleep and had stay up the entire night, mulling over the converastion with growing irritation and so much focus that she failed to notice that she was running into people. 

"I don't know what that guy was on." she scowled, narrowly avoiding a lightpole, "I'm not sc-"

**_-WHMP-_**

**_-FWSSHHHH-_**

"**OHMI_GOD_I'MSOSORRY!**" Yoru cried, seeing nothing but a flurry of scattered papers and hurrying to help gather them, "I wasn't paying attention."

"Don't worry about it." came the familiar voice, startling her out of her panicked frenzy.

"K…Kamiyama-sensei." She mumbled dazedly, feeling unwanted heat flood her face as it finally registered in her mind how close she was to him.

"Are you alright, Yaminade-san?" he asked, waving a hand in front of her face startling her into dropping the papers she had managed to gather.

"Of course I am!" she muttered irascibly out of a mixture of sleep depravation and irritation that her attempts to will the unwanted flush away were met with little success, "Why wouldn't I be."

As Yoru stomped angrily away, Kamiyama Kouta tossed around the idea of letting her know that a block of PostIt notes were adhered to her posterior…but thought better of it.

He really was tired from staying up last night, pondering his online chat with one **Bokusatsu**, who, oddly enough, had had a unpleasant omiai experience that afternoon as well (the boy's a might slow, ne?)

Kouta found to his surprise, that despite the unpleasantries exchanged later into the afternoon, he had had a rather enjoyable time, and despite it all, found himself thinking about that evening how it might of turned out if the whole omiai business had gone the way of a candy wrapper caught in an updraft.

Maybe they would've gone to get dinner, perhaps talk about themselves…but the fact that he caught himself thinking that way about a student, worried him greatly.

Shaking his head to clear it, he gathered the rest of the scattered papers and hurried on his way.

* * *

"Where did he get to now?" Yusuke cried, gasping for breath as he ran about the house, searching for Hiei, who appeared to be thoroughly enjoying his new found chibification immensely. 

"I thought I saw him go into the basement." Kuwabara wheezed, pinching a bloody nose shut from where Hiei had chosen to smack him across the face.

"Good. We'll corner him." Kurama said, shooting a piercing glare at the back of Chuu's head; he's refusing to help on the grounds of child endangerment.

"Too bad th' wee lass 'ad t' go shoppin' eh?" Jin said cheerfully, ignoring the bite throbbing on his ankle from when he had tried to grab the fleeing Hiei moments before.

"Yes, and too bad the fool's sister decided to go with her." Shishiwakamaru said blandly, eyeing Kuwabara with disdain and moving a step to the right as Suzuki took a half hearted swing at his head.

Going ahead with out them, Yusuke cautiously made his way down the basement stairs…and let loose a wild laugh that startled everyone else into flying down the stairs.

What they saw took their minds a few moments to register – Hiei, back to normal and nude, sitting atop his clothing with a trashcan on his head…a trashcan that, by all appearances, seem perfectly content where it was and had no intention of coming off no matter how Hiei wrenched at it.

Finally, tho, in a moment of brilliance it seemed, Hiei caused fire to flare up around his palms and melt the plastic waste bin...into his hair.

Everyone was laughing to hard to help him as the plastic hardened, freezing his hands in place against his skull.

* * *

(A/N: The mayhem continues! What will happen next? Well you'lll have to R&R to find out ) 


	11. Solvent

(A/N: Hey all! Next chapter's up! WOOHOO! I love it when I know what I'm gonna do ahead of time! I'm also starting up yet ANOTHER fic. A Final Fantasy Seven Fic this time around. Be sure to look for it okay? And with that being said, READ ON!)

**_

* * *

_**

**_-SWEET LITTLE BUMBLEBEE-  
-I KNOW WHAT YOU WANT FROM ME-  
-DOODOODOODOODOODADA-_**

"Hey Keiko. What's up?" Yoru asked cheerlessly. Currently, she was trying not to think on the fact that she had spent half the day with a pad of PostIts on her butt and run into Kamiyama Kouta over ten different times that day.

"_Hey Yoru._" Keiko replied brightly over the phone, sounding a might too perky for Yoru's taste and tipping her off that something was wrong, "_Say…um, just a question…but do you happen to know a way to get melted plastic out of hair?_"

"**_What_** did you **do**?" Yoru cried, leaping out of her chair and almost stepping on Bonita's hamster ball (the rodent herself was nestled away in her cage)

"_It wasn't what I did._" Keiko said, annoyance leaking into her voice that Yoru would even suggest that she would do something stupid enough to result in plastic embedding itself in her hair, "_It was what Hiei did. You know, short guy who always wears black?_"

"I can't say I do, but I'll be right over." Yoru replied quickly, righting the overturned chair, "Wait, are you at **_your_** house, or that red headed guy's?"

"_If you mean Kurama, then yes, were over there._" Keiko replied, "_Do you need directions?_"

"No, I remember where it is." Yoru sighed, tugging on her shoes as she spoke, "What happened anyway?"

"_He went toddler, somehow managed to get a trashcan over his head, which then got stuck when he changed back._" Keiko supplied, jerking the phone away from her ear as Yoru let loose a loud laugh.

_"Oh yeah, she was definitely friends with Yusuke at one point in her life." _Keiko thought to herself, shaking her head to clear it as Yoru started speaking again.

"I'll be there in about twenty minutes." She said laughingly, "Just warn the micro man that he is going to loose a bit of hair."

"_Why? Is there cutting required or something?_" Keiko asked nervously, eyes drifting to the doorway that led into the living room from which Hiei's loud cursing could be heard, "_That might not fly, hun._"

"Nah, no cutting." Yoru said casually, walking out her apartment door, "Just careful aiming with solvent."

"_Oh…alright._" Keiko breathed in relief, "_I'll see you in a bit then. B'bye._"

"Bye."

* * *

"Ho boy, **too** funny." Yoru snickered after she locked her door and began ambling down the hall, "This gonna be good." 

"What's gonna be good?" an all too familiar voice asked from her right.

"None of your business Kamiyama-sensei." Yoru ground out without pausing to look at him.

"I just received a notice from my family ordering me to go on another omiai with you." he said evenly, "I'm sure if you check your email, you'll find you've received on as well. So, yes, Yaminade-kun. This is my business."

That got her attention. She flipped open her phone and made her way to her email and much to her annoyance, Kamiyama Kouta was telling the truth and an email from her grandmother, instructing her to go on a second omiai, burned into her eyesockets.

She closed the phone with a snap, and shoved it viciously into her pocket again.

Yoru glowered up at him, hating how Kamiyama Kouta towered over her, hating even more that her was right, and without a word, turned on her heel, motioning shortly over her shoulder for him to follow.

He easily caught up in three strides of his long, lanky legs, keeping pace with her without much trouble.

"So what's going on?" He asked with an easy smile, "If there's anything I can do to help, please let me know."

"**_Listen_**." Yoru said abruptly, "This is an arranged marriage. I don't like it - **at all**. This is _**really**_ none of your business, so please do me a favor, and let it go."

"Alright." He said calmly as he followed her down the stairs, "I wont speak of the matter again then. But I'm still going along with you so we can go on our omiai after you finish your business."

"…you really want to help?" Yoru asked quietly, not wanting to believe that his kindness was real and not feigned, but finding it difficult not to.

"If you will permit me, then yes." Kamiyama-sensei replied evenly.

Yoru stared at her substitute art teacher appraisingly, looking at his face and into his eyes to see if she could detect any hint of a lie.

All she found was someone who appeared legitimately interested in helping her, an expression of genuine concern etched into every line of his face.

"You can start by promising to keep an open mind." Yoru sighed frustratedly, "And not repeat what I'm about to tell you to anyone."

Kamiyama-sensei's expression abruptly changed from one of concern to one of childlike curiosity, his eyes practically glowing with inquisitiveness.

_"Kawaii..."_

"O-okay." Yoru said tentatively, forcing away the thought that had just popped into her mind, "My friends were burning some trash and a piece of plastic got caught in an updraft and melted into my buddy Hiei-kun's hair."

"And that's where you're going?" Kamiyama-sensei asked, following her onto the awaiting bus, "To help get the plastic out of this Hiei person's hair?"

"Yeah." Yoru said taking her seat, feeling rather uncomfortable when Kamiyama-sensei took the spot next to her.

"Why does that have to be a secret…aside from keeping your friend from being embarrassed?" he asked gently.

"…you'll find out when we get there." Yoru said with a sigh.

* * *

"Hiei, if you would **just** stop pulling at it, you wouldn't **_be_** in so much pain." Kurama said indifferently, not in the mood to be sympathetic given the state of his face, "Don't **make** me **_sedate_** you." 

Hiei shot a glare that in normal circumstances would make a grown man piss himself, but at the moment, wouldn't make a five year old respect him…maybe it was his hands plastered to the sides of his head…who really knows for sure?

Shizuru was currently sitting atop her baby brother's back, smoking a cigarette. She had knocked him out a few minutes earlier to ensure he wouldn't do any popping back and forth until Suzuki came up with a cure.

"Yeah Hiei." Yusue commented with a smirk as an idea popped into his head, "You wouldn't want me telling a certain koorime who her brother is, now wouldja?"

"…you do…you **die**…" Hiei growled, eyes flashing, "I don't care if it requires ripping off my own scalp, those words shall **_never_** pass your lips."

Yusuke calmly picked up the phone and pressed the number 4 on speed dial, which was for Genkai's temple.

"Hi, Yukina?" he said with a smile in Hiei's direction as his expression changed from animalistic fury to wild panic, "It's Yusuke. Listen, were in need of your skills here. Do ya think Genkai could drive ya over?…greeeeeeat. See ya in a few."

Hanging up the receiver, Yusuke smiled in an overly bright way in Hiei's direction.

"She says she'll be here in thirty minutes." He grinned as Hiei's look of alarm increased five times.

"I have to-!"

"-stay right where you are." Touya said coolly, as Kurama listlessly manipulated his plants into binding Hiei to the ground, "How do you expect to fight off assailants with your hands pinioned? Just stay put until Yaminade-san and Yukina-san arrive."

Touya surveyed Hiei's current situation: his hands were pinned to his head, preventing him access to his katana and use of his Kokuryuha, Hiei himself was pinioned to the floor; over all he was in a bad way. Even a small child could see that.

A knock came at the door.

"**_Hello?_**"

"**Yoru-kun!**" Keiko said in relief as the washed out teenager wander into the living room…with her literary arts teacher following not two steps behind.

Grabbing her childhood friend by the wrist and dragging her in close, Keiko hissed:

"_What-is-HE-doing-here?_"

"I'll explain later." Yoru said shortly, pulling away from Keiko, "First things first, get me some solvent, a pair of gloves and two buckets: one with water in it, one empty."

* * *

About twenty minutes later, Hiei was in pain, bald and chemically burnt in several places, but free to move his hands in any way he wished. 

His first motion was to knock a few of Shishiwakamaru's teeth loose for laughing at his bald patches.

His next action was to answer the door, since everyone else was too fascinated in the hand freeing process to bother answering it.

"Hell-OH **_MY!_** **Hiei-san!**" Yukina cried, hands flying to her mouth in shock as Hiei's hands fell limply to his sides in dumbfounded horror, "So **_that's_** why Yusuke said my skills were necessary! Don't you worry. I'll patch you right up."

She grabbed him by the wrist and tugged him into the house, Hiei too out of it to notice.

The koorime sat him down in an easy chair and place her hands on either side of his face, and within seconds, Hiei's scalp and hair were righted.

"My **lord!**"

All heads turned to look at Kamiyama-sensei who had loosed the cry.

"Is…is this what you were…oh Yaminade-kun…such a secret" he murmured, shaking his head.

"…you can't breathe a word of this, understood?" Yoru said sternly, "Or your mind will have to be wiped clean."

"I understand." Kamiyama-sensei replied, "Not a word."

"Your word isn't good enough for me." Yusuke snorted, "I trust Yoru cuz I've known her for years. How do I know we can trust you?"

"I give my life over to you." Kamiyama said confidently, "If I ever go back on my word, my life is now yours to take."

"Sounds trustworthy to me." Shizuru said calmly, exhaling a lungful of smoke.

"I don't sense any deception either." Kurama said calmly, "So we'll take you on your word…for now."

"I thank you." Kamiyama-sensei said bowing deeply. He then offered Yoru his hand, "Well then shall we?"

Yoru stared at the hand as though it was a frog, or some other particularly slimy creature she didn't want to touch without gloves, but after a few moments, forced herself to reach forward and accept the hand.

"I'll tell you everything tonight." Yoru hissed into Keiko's ear as she passed, "Login to IMVU at eight fifteen."

"Gotcha." Keiko mouthed as her friend was led out the door.

"**_I've done it!_**" Suzuki cried triumphantly, startling them all out of their serious mind frame as he thundered down the stair with a vial in his hand, "**I've found the cure!**…what? What I miss?"

* * *

(A/N: Ayame, Botan and Koenma arrive with a new case for Yusuke. It involves twelve EXTREMELY dangerous ghosts and an AWOL Shinigami. R&R!)


	12. Black Zodiac

(A/N: Hey all! Another chapter up! WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!)

* * *

_"It smells worse than Jin's feet after a hard training session." _Touya inwardly gagged as the vial of antidote was passed his way,_ "And looks the way I'd expect Shishiwakamaru's brain to…if he had one I mean."_

With a shudder and a pinch of his nose to quash the taste, Touya downed the last of the antidote…and it was every bit as disgusting as he thought it would be.

It took all of his will power to keep for spitting it on the floor, and he had to dig deep to find the strength of mind to swallow the vile gunk.

"We know man." Yusuke gagged, toothbrush in one hand, half used tube of toothpaste in the other, "Gross doesn't even **begin** to cover it."

That having been said, Yusuke went back to frantically scrubbing at his tongue with far more toothpaste than any human being needed, causing large amounts of foam to drop to the floor.

Kurama would have complained, but he was currently hogging the mouthwash, forgoing all niceties and splashing it all over himself in his efforts to rid his mouth of the vile taste.

Jin and Chuu had taken to the kitchen, Jin currently eating Kurama's mother out of house and home and Chuu downing every last ounce of liquor in the house in hopes that alcohol would somehow neutralize the taste.

Suzuki and Shishiwakamaru hadn't been able to handle the awful flavor. Keiko had been in the same boat; all three had ended up somehow knocking each other unconscious, and mercifully so.

Hiei's poor tongue had been in such agony, it had sent him running blind in search of relief. Yukina, very worried about the well being of the fire imp, followed close behind.

Shizuru had forced the potion down her baby brother's throat just as he was regaining consciousness…the end result was the taste sent him back **_INTO_** unconsciousness.

All and all, not good.

"**Really** Suzuki. Couldn't you do **_anything_** about the flavor of that disgusting brew?" Touya asked severely after the party reassembled…for the most part: Chuu's in a happy drunken stupor, Keiko's still out of it and I'm pretty sure Kuwabara's in a coma.

"**No**, actually." Suzuki replied snappishly, rubbing the spot where his head had collided with the table, "Don't you think I tried? Something in artificial flavoring counteracted the potions original effect. It made it into an entirely different formula."

"An' what did **_tha'_** formula do?" Jin asked irritably, almost too full to down the Alka-Seltzer Yusuke passed him, "Turn ya inta a pritteh poneh?"

"No, it made the hair under your arms grow long enough to be used as jump ropes." Suzuki replied.

"I might have enjoyed that y'know." Yusuke smirked, "Freak Keiko out and wouldn't have to buy a new jump rope ever again."

"You **really** are disgusting at times, you know that?" Shishiwakamaru said dully, head resting against a pillow as the narcissist insisted on taking up the entire sofa.

"And you **_really_** are a couch hog, you know **that?**" Kurama retorted blandly, flopping down on Shishi's calves.

"**_What_** do you think you're doing?" Shishiwakamaru spat, eyes glinting viciously, "Get **off** of me."

"Well by all appearances, it didn't appear that you would be moving in the next century." Touya said mildly, "Keiko's in the recliner, Kuwabara's in the easy chair and Hiei's in the window set. You're taking up the rest of the available seating. It was the only natural thing to d-!"

"You've made your point, Touya." Suzuki snickered as Shishi yanked his legs out from under Kurama and whipped them around in front of himself.

"Besides, I think its about time you stopped cowering in the shadows." Hiei drawled, "Come out Botan, it's no use hiding the fact that you're there."

All heads turned to the doorway as three pairs of feet made their way into the room.

* * *

Ayame, Koenma, and Botan, who looked rather sheepish and guilty at having been the only one detected, joined the assembled party, Ayame and Koenma looking very serious.

"We have problems." Koenma sighed.

"When do we not." Yusuke said dully, rolling his eyes, causing Botan to shoot across the room and smack him across the back of the head with her oar.

"Show some respect!" She cried indignantly.

"This is no laughing matter Tantei." Ayame said coolly, "This case is one of the more significant you've had to deal with, on par with the tear between the Makai and Ningenkai."

"That bad?" Kurama remarked, looking mildly surprised as he scooched over to make room for Yusuke, "What's happened Koenma-san?"

"A human has released the twelve ghosts of the Black Zodiac." Botan replied, looking very, very grim for someone as bubbly as herself.

"So some ghosts got loose, big whoop." Yusuke said in an I-So-Don't-Care tone of voice, "It's not as though they can hurt anybody."

"**That** is where you are wrong, Yusuke." Hiei interrupted, switching himself around appearing very startled, "I've heard of the Black Zodiac Ghosts."

"As have I." Suzuki muttered, visibly paling, "They were humans who's deaths were so violent, so untimely, so…so wrong, that their anger is made tangible. They can make contact with the living and do so…to great effect."

"You know your history." Koenma nodded, retrieving a scroll from inside his sleeve, "These are the Blue Books on all twelve ghosts."

"Once Kuwabara wakes up we'll-" Yusuke began, only to be silenced by a single look from Shizuru.

"Let. Him. Alone." She said shrewdly, exhaling smoke as she spoke making her appear that much more imposing, "He's retired. My baby bro has to focus on his school work now. No more paranormal crap."

"But without **_him_**-****" Yusuke sputtered, interrupted by Koenma this time.

"It doesn't really matter. We already have another psychic in mind. The problem at hand is convincing her to help." He sighed.

"What? I'm sure it wouldn't take much to convince Genkai." Shishiwakamaru said, cocking an eyebrow.

"No, not Genkai." Botan said, shaking her head fervently, "Think…younger. Think around Keiko's age."

"Shizuru then?" Suzuki asked, turning his gaze on the elder Kuwabara sibling, who shrugged her shoulders.

"She's already donated what power she had to Botan." Ayame said blandly, "Remember the puffer fish incident three months ago?"

"Oh yes…and I was trying so hard to forget." Hiei muttered, resting his head in his hand.

"Then who is it?" Kurama asked, "It couldn't be Keiko. Genkai's already tested her and she's only slightly empathic. And empathy has no place on this type of assignment."

"And Yukina, while gifted in healing, wouldn't be much use unless helping us after a capture." Suzuki said bemusedly.

"Oh, **OH**! **_Ah_** know!" Jin cried triumphantly, "Ah know oo it is! It's th' wee lass! It's thah' Yoru lass, init it?"

"I'm surprised." Koenma blinked, staring at the wind imp, "I was certain that Kurama or Touya would be the ones to figure it out."

"Oh, you've **got** to be **_kidding_** me." Yusuke cried, throwing up his hands, "**Yoru?** I mean…**_c'mon!_** I woulda sensed if she had any kind of spiritual prowess!"

"Did you sense if **Kuwabara** had any kind of spiritual prowess in your early days?" Botan asked offhandedly, making Yusuke color and Shizuru snicker.

"She's had the potential all along, Yusuke, and prolonged exposure to **_your_** spiritual energy has only increased it." Ayame said calmly, "The only real problem is that is completely sealed off. Like a cork stopping up a sake' bottle."

"Genkai can free this psychic strength…but only if Yaminade-san is willing." Koanma sighed.

"I'm getting the feeling there's more you aren't telling us." Touya said warily, "What else is going on?"

"Well, we weren't going to bother you all with this assignment, so we sent one of our Shinigami agents." Botan said awkwardly, pressing her index fingers together, "But…that was over six month ago."

"And you waited this long because **why**?" Suzuki asked blandly.

"Well, he always was a bit on the flaky side, so we figured he'd turn up eventually." Koenma said with a shrug.

"At any rate, we believe that he may have been abducted by the human responsible for freeing the Black Zodiac ghosts." Ayame said calmly, withdrawing a photograph from her kimono sleeve, "Here is a photograph of him."

"Oh…my god." Shishiwakamaru gawked as The Blue Books were placed in Yusuke's lap, "There is just no way."

"Track him down." Koenma said calmly, "Enlist Yaminade Yoru's help. Capture the twelve. Until you complete your mission, no one, living or otherwise, is safe."

* * *

"No."

"But-!"

"I said no. No, no, no."

Yusuke currently stood outside Yoru's apartment, Yoru herself leaning on the doorframe. The Reikai Tantei was trying his best to convince Yoru to help…and was thus far unsuccessful.

"Why not?" he asked in frustration, stamping his foot the way he did when he was little and she was withholding a toy from him, "We're talking about the lives of **_millions_** of **people** here!"

"And we're also talking about me going well outside my comfort zone, to help a group of people I not only don't particularly like, but never once got off their asses to help my mother and brother." Yoru retorted.

"So you're willing to let all these people die because of one isolated incident?" Yusuke cried in frustration.

"_**HEY!**_ Those hussies calling my mom a **slut** at the grocery store was **_NOT_** an isolated incident, Yusuke." Yoru shot back, "Those little brats calling Yuhi a sissy wasn't an isolated incident."

"Those were a **_few_** **jackholes** out of **_millions_** of **people!**" Yusuke shouted, "You've always been the nurturing protective figure to those kids at Sakuranbo."

Noting her horrified expression at the name of her workplace leaving his lips, he pressed forward.

"Yes, I know **_all_** about it. I spied on Touya when he was still an ankle biter." He said dismissively, "But are you **really** gonna let all those kids be in harm's way because you're being so **_selfish_?**"

Yoru's face contorted in pain.

"…_fine_." she whispered harshly, not looking at Yuske bitterness filling her voice, "I'll…I'll do it."

A door five doors down and to the left opened and Kamiyama Kouta exited it and seeing the two together, approached them.

"Everything alright?" he asked, noting Yoru near tears and how angry Yusuke appeared.

"Just **peachy**." Yoru spat.

"We just finished up here." Yusuke drawled, opening up the back pack he carried and retrieving the photograph given to him by Ayame, "However…**_we've_** only just begun."

Kamiyama Kouta stared at the face in the photograph, dumbfounded: massive black feathered wings, black hakama pants, a cold smirk, long, dark brown hair, white blue eyes.

His own face stared back at him.

"I have a few questions for you, Shinosuke." Yusuke said severely.

* * *

(Shinosuke) when broken down it reads death, assistant; a pun as the names of both reapers Botan and Ayame refer to flowers used in Japanese funerals.

* * *

(A/N: Yoru's power is uncapped. The search begins. Ghost one? The First Born Son. R&R!) 


End file.
